Another Fine Mess
by Caranath
Summary: The Boys take a weekend off to relax and help out a friend. Things quickly turn hot.
1. Chapter 1

**A/n:** _Hi everybody! hope Santa Claus was good to you all. Back from the cruise, rarin' to go. I actually have three stories going right now, but am only going to publish one at a time from start to finish. One is a little bit of excitement and adventure, one is flat out KeyStoneCops/Three Stooges and the last is going to make the next Game of Thrones novel look like a romantic comedy. _**  
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**Another Fine Mess**

The little bell that heralded the opening of the door jingled merrily in the relative silence. It startled Fenton Hardy, founder of Hardy Investigations(currently 2/3 retired) from his monthly review of the Agency's files, both business related and case related. While he trusted his sons completely, he still liked to keep abreast of things, even if he was no longer an active PI. He'd often be able to dispense some wisdom, accumulated over 30 plus years of investigative work, over a case's aspects. Oftentimes, he'd be able to relate a past experience to a current case, allowing his offspring and heirs to solve a case that much more quickly. Even after his semi retirement, the Agency continued to build it's reputation and they had as late had to turn down a few cases as they were swamped.

As Fenton stuck his head out of his former office( now Frank's) where he had been poring over the books, he frowned a tiny bit. The man before him looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn't place the face. "May I help you?" he asked pleasantly as he came through the door out int the airy reception area. Not for the first time, he mentally told himself to suggest(again) that the Boys hire a receptionist. There was plenty of room to stick a small desk in the area, and goodness knows they could use a buffer zone at times.

The young man, about Frank's age, Fenton guessed, looked a little out of place and nervous, but smiled as he thrust out his right hand. Fenton automatically reached out and shook it, noting the man's immensely muscled arms belied the delicate grip. "Mr Hardy! Nice to see you again, under much more civilized circumstances." Fenton must have continued to look confused, as after a moment, the man chuckled and said. "The airfield at Calverton." he named the small town where they had met.

Understanding dawned. "Oh! Yes! Now I remember! Bruce, isn't it?" Fenton exclaimed as he now fully recognized the man who had saved his younger son's life a while ago.

"Yessir." Bruce Hathaway replied with a grin. "Has Joe kept out of trouble?"

"Not if you count getting engaged!" Fenton laughed as he indicated Bruce should take a seat on the couch and offered him coffee, which was accepted with thanks.

"Meh. He could not have done better than Hallie. Although to hear my cousin gripe, _she _couldn't have done worse!" It was an open secret that Melody Harper held no love for either brother, feeling Joe was a gold digger and too charming by half, and Frank was just a polite bully. She barely kept a civil tongue when around either of them as long as Halloran Jacobs was in the room. When Joe's petite fiancee wasn't, however, it became very close to open warfare. Joe of course, liked to push her buttons just because he could, while Frank was left to deal with her more diplomatically, as he was his brother's Best Man to her Maid of Honor.

Bruce sobered as he sipped the coffee. "I'm not really here to gossip about Mellie, though. Well, I am. But not in the way you think."

"Just tell me what's on your mind, son." Fenton suggested.

Bruce took another deep breath. "I think she's in trouble."

"In what kind of trouble?" Fenton asked.

"To be precisely accurate, I think the Park is in trouble, and she can't handle it alone. But try telling _her _ that." Bruce shook his head in exasperation. He loved his cousin, but knew all too well her stubbornness and pigheadedness. They were interrupted before Fenton could ask any more questions by the arrival of both Frank and Joe returning from a court appearance involving a recently closed case.

They spent a couple of minutes doing the round robin hand shake thing before settling down again, Bruce back on the couch, Frank next to him and Joe perching on the counter. Fenton took charge of the conversation. "What did you mean when you said the Park was in trouble?"

"Little stuff, but it's adding up to a big hassle and pain in the you know what." Bruce began. "And the new guy the Park Service finally sent is precisely that, a new guy.. his first assignment. Nice enough, but useless for anything more than signing off on permits right now." He sat forward, and the other three did so in unconscious response. He remained silent, contemplating, until the quiet was broken by Joe.

"Little stuff? Such as?" he prompted.

"Such as campers returning from a day of hiking to find their sites ransacked and not by bears or cougars. Multiple flat tires in the parking lots. Just the other day, 3 people got stranded on the wrong side of the river when the rope bridge was cut down."

"Cut? Not just frayed and it broke?" Frank interjected.

"Nope. Cut. Melody had inspected that bridge not 8 hours earlier. It was fine, having been completely re strung at the beginning of the season. Luckily the hikers had walkie talkies and she was able to direct them to a safe crossing. Mel is calling it pranks by kids and started issuing extra paperwork, warning guests that such behavior is not going to be tolerated and that the Service will prosecute. But I think it could be something bigger than that. And you all know how stubborn she is, Once she has set her mind up, there ain't no changing it." he sighed ruefully.

"What makes you think it's more than just pranks?" Frank asked, his curiosity piqued. Bruce leaned back, sighing. Shrugging his shoulders, he sat there a minute, formulating his thoughts.

"It's a small Park, as National Service Parks go. The only permits allowed are camping, and trout fishing in season.. no other hunting. I've lived there my entire life and can count on one hand the number of 'new' faces. Most of the campers return year after year, and are generational. The trout licenses go to locals for the most part. Calverton itself has nothing to offer except basic supplies. Yet in the past couple of weeks I have seen more new faces and cars in town than I have in the last 20 years."

"What's so unusual about that?" Fenton was confused. It was Joe, however, who took up the narrative.

"No offense, Doc, but Calverton is what's known as a hick town." He turned to his father. "It's tiny, off the beaten track, and the only people who go there are people who have business there. If alluvasudden there are people he doesn't recognize, something's up." He grinned. "I still get weird looks from the locals and I have been going there with my hot fiancee for almost a year."

"You get weird looks dude cuz the first time you came you had to be airlifted out" Bruce smirked. "Most excitement we'd seen in decades" he continued with a chuckle. "Joe's right though. Strangers stick out like sore thumbs. Most of us like it that way."

"Okay then what about these new faces?" Fenton asked. "Anything off about them?"

Bruce shrugged again. "Not that I could tell . Some are in typical back country clothes, jeans, flannel shirts, that sort of thing. Some are in sport coats and Dockers. A couple I have seen have been in flashy cars and suits. They come in, eat at the diner, sleep at the motel. Nobody is standing out behaviorally, which I think is pretty damn odd in an of itself."

Joe nodded. "Like they are trying to be inconspicuous. Avoiding attracting too much attention to themselves, on top of what their arrival has done on its' own."

"Exactly." Bruce concurred.

Frank wasn't convinced, and his worry showed. "I dunno. Not much to go on, and no one's been hurt. And Joe, you know how busy we are..." he began.

"No one's been hurt _yet_." his younger brother retorted before continuing. "And I am all too aware of just how damn busy we are. I love you dearly, Big Brother, but you work too hard. And when you work too hard, _I _have to work too hard_. _Some of us also are in the middle of planning a wedding and could use a weekend of camping to rejuvenate. Right now most of our cases are at that pesky 'wait and see' stage. Our next court date isn't for three weeks. In fact, we can pass it off as my Bachelor Party to keep Mel out of our hair. And I know Halloran would love to spend some girl time making googly eyes over bouquets and crap. We have a few beers, roast a few marshmallows, do a little poking around. Easy peasy." Joe sat back with a triumphant smirk, daring Frank to dispute his logic.

Frank, of course disputed it, just because he could. "We really do have a lot of work to do, and there's not much to go on.." he repeated, looking apologetically at Bruce.

"Nonsense." Fenton exclaimed. "One weekend away from the office is not going to cause the Agency to go under. And your brother is right, Frank. You haven't had any fresh air in weeks. Besides, I am tired of listening to him complain about how he doesn't have time to breathe lately. Go. Take the weekend. If you find something, I am sure you will figure out a way to add it to your case load. If you don't, so much the better. The time away will do you both good." And that was that. (mostly) Retired or not, Fenton Hardy was still in charge. Joe beamed like a little kid on the first day of Summer vacation, Bruce smiled in relief and gratefulness, and Frank resigned himself of the futility of arguing the point.

"Fine." he sighed. "I know when I am outnumbered." He sulked a little though, thinking there was nothing wrong with his work ethic or desire to take care of responsibilities before having fun. While sometimes he envied his brother's carefree approach to life, more often than not he was exasperated by it. As the eldest and father figure to Joe most of his life, he occasionally wished Joe would appreciate his view on life more. Joe had obviously been far too spoiled in his youth. (_My own damn fault, I guess._)

"Cool! I knew you couldn't say no to me Bro!" Joe smirked cheekily, immediately ducking the half hearted swing by his elder sibling in response. "C'mon, it'll be fun! We haven't had any time to relax just the two of us in forever." Despite himself, Frank found the notion of he and Joe just hanging out like they did as kids something he rather looked forward to.

Bruce thanked them again before taking his leave, promising to join them at Halloran's cabin sometime Saturday morning. Fenton called Frank back, allowing Joe to take off amidst muttered plans involving graham crackers and Hershey bars. "Son, are you really okay with this?" Fenton asked, with a hint of worry clouding his tone.

"Yeah Dad. I just wish he'd understand my point of view sometimes is all." Frank sighed.

"Why should he, when you do nothing but give him grief about his?" Fenton asked mildly.

"Say wha?!" Frank sputtered, stung by the words.

"Well, don't you? Every time I come in here you are berating him for not doing the paperwork immediately, or taking long lunches or some other thing. Tell me. Is Joseph a good Investigator?" His father asked.

"Of course he is, one of the best!" Frank was quick to defend his brother's abilities.

"Does the paperwork get done?"

"Eventually, but only if I keep on him about it."

"Really? So why is it, last month when you were in Chicago for three weeks and he was left to his own devices, all the reports were filed when you got back?" Fenton raised one skeptical eyebrow.

"I figured Sam did 'em. Or you told him to."

"Nope. Never said a word. And he'd be hurt you assumed that. I thought you were over that? Thinking he was less than capable."

"Dad, I.." he was interrupted by a raised finger.

"All I am saying , Frank, is his method works for him. Maybe if you quit trying to mold him into your image he'd quit trying to mold you into his. You _know_ he pushes your buttons because he knows it spins you up. Your brother is right in a way, Frank. You _DO_ work to hard. Don't make the same mistakes I did at your age." now Fenton's voice held a note of sadness.

"Mistakes?" Frank asked, curious.

"I almost ruined my marriage, Frank. Working too hard. Your mother has the patience of a Saint but even that has its' limits. You were too young to remember the arguments we'd have. About the long hours, the missed movie dates. And don't give me that look. Maybe the reason you aren't in a relationship is that you don't give yourself enough free time to pursue one!" Fenton laid a gentle hand on his son's shoulder. "Live a little, Son. Your mother and I want you to be as happy as Joe is. And part of that means a life outside of the job." With a final pat, the eldest Hardy left the office, leaving Frank alone to contemplate what was said.

**A/n: **_This chapter, and probably the next 2 or so will be pretty slow as far as pacing goes, not much happening at all. It'll get better later. really. _


	2. Chapter 2

**A/n: ** _Yeap, taking my sweet time before the action. You will either love it, or hate it. _

_**Chapter Two**_

Joe pulled into the driveway of the home he shared with his fianceé and noted with a smile Halloran was already home. Being the Boss did have some perks and she often was able to leave Infotech by 4 and beat the rush hour traffic. Joe was seldom that lucky, as today proved once again. It was after six when he pulled his Impala into the driveway behind Halloran's BMW. Hopefully dinner was already on the table.

His prayers were answered as he stepped into the foyer and was assaulted by the intoxicating smell of cornbread. "Luceeee, I'm home!" he twanged in a really bad Cuban accent. Hall came out of the kitchen, drying her hands on a towel. She greeted him with a kiss before informing him he was just in time to set the table. Joe procrastinated, scooping her close and laying his head on top of hers and inhaling the sweet aroma of her lavender scented shampoo. Every day he marveled anew his incredible luck at finding the perfect person to spend his life with. He couldn't wait for the wedding in 4 month's time.

Dinner was the promised cornbread, served up dripping with honey and accompanied by baked beans and a great big pile of sticky, saucy ribs. "How do you manage to do this in just a couple of hours?" he marveled between lip smacks. "Aunt Gertrude would spend literally all day on a spread like this."

"I cheat." she blandly replied. " The beans were in the crockpot all day, the cornbread is a mix and I par boiled the ribs before baking them with a bottled sauce." she smiled at him. "The only thing I never cheat on is my baking. Oh, and I cooked. You clean." She deftly slid her chair away from the cozy kitchen table and laid a quick smootch on his cheek before heading out into the living room. Joe laughed resignedly, knowing that these were the Rules of the House he had moved in to. Funny, though, how when he was the one cooking he still ended up cleaning. One of those mysterious double standards that never seemed to be in his favor. Still he stood up, brought the plates over to the dishwasher and began transferring the few leftovers over to containers before loading the sink with soap and scrubbing away, singing along to the faint strains of Pink Floyd coming from the living room. Thank goodness his totally hot fianceé had awesome taste in music.

After finishing up, he uncorked a bottle of Halloran's favorite red and snagged 2 wine glasses on his way out into the living room. Halloran, barely tall enough to reach his shoulders in heels, was curled up on the couch looking tinier than usual under the throw she had tossed lightly around herself. She was nose deep into some book or other, oblivious as he stood over her from behind the couch smiling fondly at her dark hair all disheveled, growing out since she had cut it so drastically short on Joe's birthday. With a flourish, he presented her with a glass as he stepped around, lifting her legs up and sliding underneath them. "Any wild plans for this weekend?" he asked.

"Well, I had hoped to do so more research on Florists. So far everyone I talked to are either busy that weekend already, or uninterested in listening to what I want." she pouted a little. "The last one kept insisting on white roses for my bouquet. I _loathe _ roses. White or otherwise." she huffed in annoyance. Joe hid a grin, being _well_ aware of her preferences.

"Wouldya mind If I took off for the weekend with Frank?" he asked. "Thought we could hang out at the cabin and relax a bit. He's looking kinda worn out, and I could use a break myself." He had toyed with the idea of telling her the real reason, but ultimately decided that if he had, she'd feel obligated to pass that information on to Melody. This was not something he was ready to deal with, knowing Melody would be furious with not only them, but her cousin as well for sticking his nose in things. "I trust you to pick out a boutonniere that won't clash with your beauty. And I swear on Aunt Gertrude's soul I will taste test every flavor of cake and green bean casserole without complaint next week." he knew she had an appointment with the caterer to finalize their menu. They had decided to do a sit down meal as opposed to a buffet as she wanted something a little more formal. They had already picked out the wine and sparkling cider, complete with custom labels. He had only winced a little at the bill for the invitations, done in some uber fancy script on some impossible to pronounce shade of off white.

"That's fine, Dear." she replied with a caress of his cheek. "I was going to invite Pam to join me anyway, show her around." Pam was Phil Cohen's wife, they having eloped over the same Holidays that saw Joe and Hall get engaged and Phil come back to Bayport to take over as the CEO of Infotech, leaving Halloran to run the books of her grandfather's company. "And I was going to take a look at more dresses anyway, which means you couldn't have come in the first place." She put the book away after carefully marking her place and scootched on the couch until she was practically in Joe's lap. "I'll call Mellie tomorrow and warn her." she said with a laugh. The remainder of the evening was spent just enjoying each other's company. Joe was turning into a regular domesticated homebody, no longer needing to be out and about doing something 24/7. He found he liked spending lazy evenings just watching old movies. But after the fourth or fifth successive yawn, Halloran declared she was off to bed and made a pointed comment about needing a bed warmer.

"That's all I am good for then, huh?" he laughed. "Maybe I should just get you a dog."

"Hmm. Grocery bill would be a lot less..." Halloran teased as she flitted upstairs, Joe following closely behind with a suggestive leer. It was a good thing they had a king size bed as Joe still sprawled and had a penchant for ending up all rolled up in the covers. Morning still came too early for the Blond Hardy, who would be happy sleeping in til noon daily if he could get away with it. The petite dark haired Halloran was the exact opposite, usually wide awake by six. It made their domestic life slightly easier as she could get her yoga in, plus shower and dress before she needed to prod her paramour out of bed with a cup of freshly brewed coffee.

Joe was bouncing around like a kid all day in the office, making plans and writing out grocery lists and asking Frank's opinion on T bones versus Ribeyes. Frank just resignedly told him to get what he wanted and he'd provide the beer. "Be careful, Frank." Sam Radley's amused voice came through the doorway of his office. "Otherwise you'll end up with nothing but Pop Tarts and Oreos all weekend."

"And Cheez Whiz." Joe snorted. "Can't forget the Cheez. Whiz. Balanced diet and all that." Both Joe and Sam laughed heartily at Frank's subsequent groan of despair. "Truth be told, we have to be careful. Not too much perishable stuff. That ice box thing sucks in this weather. Hey!" he exclaimed. "Think Dad'd let me borrow his industrial sized cooler?"

"Prolly. Don't think he's used it in years." Frank replied.

"Awesome." and Joe immediately went to his office to make some phone calls. After being assured he could indeed borrow the cooler, Joe thanked his father and then asked if he could speak to his mother. When Laura came on the phone he sweet talked her into baking a batch of her famous turtle brownies, Frank's most favorite dessert in the world. After declaring his undying love to the Greatest Mother in the Universe, Joe hung up and started rearranging his scattered notes in to a coherent one page document that even Frank would be impressed with.

After lunch, a Client meeting and one quick trip to the Police station to re certify he was allowed to conceal carry, Joe headed back to the office, where he promptly began badgering his brother to let them take off for the cabin first thing in the morning. Joe's wheedling did nothing to sway his more responsible sibling's mind although Frank did allow Sam to offer a compromise. They'd leave around noon, as long as Joe completed a few stacks of paperwork that had been sitting on his desk for the last week. Joe knew enough to not argue the point any further and actually stayed in the office that night making headway. He had called Halloran and told her to not hold dinner for him, but she showed up about 6 with enough chicken pot pie to feed not only Joe's voracious appetite, but Frank's as well. They all ate in companionable silence, the only sounds the scritch of a pen on paper or the clack of keys being pressed on laptops. Halloran took charge of clean up and told the men not to spend all night at it before giving Joe a kiss goodbye and taking off.

Finally, a little after 8 pm, Frank pushed himself away from his desk. "Okay, Joe, even I can admit it's late. Let's call it a night."

Joe grinned and promised to be back no later than 9. He almost made it. It was slightly after 930 the next morning when he showed up, but Frank forgave him as soon as he saw the box of donuts from his favorite shop down the street. They each buckled down, Frank surprising himself as he realized he actually was looking forward to some time away after all. It was just after noon when Joe leaned in the doorway of his brother's office.

"I have dotted all my i's and crossed all my tees. Can we please get on the road already?!" Joe whined, but the big goofy grin on his face belied the tone of voice.

"Fine, I suppose so" Frank mock sighed, his own grin lighting up a normally somber face. He pushed back from his desk, but not before turning off the laptop and closing the screen down. He was about to place it in it's carry on when Joe reached forward and slapped his brother's hand.

"Oh no you don't. I forbid it. You can take notes the old fashioned way if we need to take notes. Not like there is any signal out there anyway." Joe growled.

"But.." Frank tried to speak, only to have a sternly wagged finger shoved into his face.

"I said _**no**_. Deal with it. I am not sharing you this weekend." there was something almost wistful and not quite possessive in the way he said it. Frank had a flash of insight that told him Joe was using this trip to the cabin as an excuse for something else, something not yet revealed but very important to his little brother. Curiosity won out over that oh so typical Big Brother Worry radar that had been perfected over the last 28 years and rather than immediately assuming something was wrong, Frank let the comment slide.

Soon( but not soon enough for Joe) they were on the road in the SUV, one cooler stocked with enough beer to drown a bear, and the other with enough red meat to choke one. A few other sacks and boxes held other important items like coffee, canned goods and the pan of brownies Joe had successfully snuck in without Frank seeing. The drive was quiet, being the middle of the day and on back country roads. They fought over the radio station, argued about politics and debated over the current NHL lockout. In other words, they had a great time on the drive just enjoying each other's company, something they hadn't gotten a chance to do lately without it involving the job. They arrived in Calverton mid afternoon, and Joe insisted on Reubens and cherry cokes at the diner before swinging by the hardware store for an ice block and fire starters. Frank had actually only been up to the cabin exactly twice before, the first time when Halloran called him up in the middle of the night crying that Joe had been shot, and the second a few weeks later to install a new door on the outhouse since Joe had still been convalescing. This would be the first time he actually would be able to relax. He hoped.

Joe had learned early on that the path from where they had to leave the car and the cabin itself was fraught with holes and ruts, so he had invested in a small collapsable dolly that they used to transport the two coolers, the huge block of ice and the rest of their supplies. As they walked the short mile, Joe mentioned he would like to bring in some gravel and dirt to even the path out a little, since the Park Service had already nixed the request he had made to pave it. Frank agreed that that was a good idea as he grunted and struggled behind the dolly trying to keep things from bouncing off. Eventually, though, they reached the small clearing that held the cabin that had been in Halloran's family for generations.

Joe gave a little groan of despair as he beheld the empty firewood rack. "Flip ya for it?" he asked plaintively. Frank shook his head. With a piteous sigh of despair, Joe glumly trudged over to the small shed and grabbed the axe. Frank just smiled softly and let himself in where he immediately set about putting things away. There was just enough wood left in the holder next to the old fashioned wood burning stove to get a fire going, which he did with alacrity before seasoning two huge steaks and rubbing two large potatoes with shortening to bake them. A can of carrots were plopped into a pan and set aside for heating through just before the steaks would be done. Then Frank spent a few minutes just watching his brother sweat in the afternoon light. Joe had taken off his shirt and Frank unwillingly found himself looking at all the scars his brother wore. Most of them you had to know they were there to see, but a few were all too visible reminders of how many times his younger sibling had been badly injured. The worst one by far was a long, jagged scar on his back, from left shoulder to right hip. It was the deepest and angriest reminder of a time both brothers would prefer to forget, but couldn't. Frank had to physically repress the shudder of guilt that shivered through him as he recalled the reason that scar was there.

"What?!" Joe exclaimed, breaking Frank out of his reverie. "Is there something on my back?" Joe twisted around , trying to see behind himself. "It's not a friggin' wasp or anything is it?!" Joe hated wasps.

"Huh? Oh. Uhh. No. it's just..." Frank trailed off.

"Just what?!" Joe cocked his head, quizzically.

Frank reached out and put a tentative hand on his brother, lightly tracing the scar. "It's my fault." he said in a whisper.

"We've been over this about a bazillion times. If I recall correctly, you swooped in and saved my ass did you not?" Joe asked with a tinge of exasperation. " The Mazzola brothers are dead and buried right? Vincente has been refreshingly _un_interested in revenge and we are still paying Dr Suitland for all the therapy despite not having actually seen him alone or together in over six months." Joe earnestly placed his hands on his brother's shoulders, forcing brown eyes to gaze into blue one. "Besides, I was the one who in my usual hotheaded fashion did not wait for back up and stumbled into an attempted break in of dad's office in nothing but a pair of flannel jammies." Joe straightened up and took a step back.

"I can't see it, Frank, and it never bothers me any more. Not even Halloran notices it. Let it go, Big Brother. It is not now and never was your fault or responsibility. Haven't had a nightmare in almost a year. I am reasonably well adjusted despite my upbringing and over protective elder sibling. In fact, if you think about it, that was the last time I was in any way shape or form injured beyond a bad landing in basketball or a bruised set of knuckles." Joe paused. "I am also at the present time starving and could use some help hauling this pile of timber inside." Without further ado, he grabbed a pile of freshly cut logs and walked into the cabin. After a moment, Frank did the same.

Frank finished dinner prep while Joe took the time to sluice the sweat and dust off in the camp shower located in the pumphouse. Joe then tackled the ribeye with relish, devouring it in minutes in between swigs of beer and bites of carrot or baked potato. Frank ate more leisurely but no less happily. When Joe presented Frank with the turtle brownies, Frank laughingly ran off into the living room with the entire pan. Joe only got one, and then only because he snitched it while Frank was out at the outhouse.

The evening was spent with the boys just being brothers. No discussion of any of their cases past present or future was allowed by Younger Brother Decree. Frank actually found himself not caring that a moratorium had been declared. It was pretty nice to just be two guys drinking beer and reminiscing about years past and speculating on the future. Frank asked Joe how many kids he was planning on having, Joe responded by threatening to make Frank the legal guardian so how many did he think he could handle? They talked long in to the night and it was well after midnight when their dueling yawns convinced them it was time to hit the sack. They flipped for the one bed in the cabin. Frank won. Joe good naturedly grumbled as he snagged a few quilts from the chest in the bedroom and absconded with half the pillows. But soon both were sleeping soundly until they were woken the next morning just after 8 by someone pounding loudly on the door.

**A/n: **_so uhhm, there is a secondary theme going on that will be explored as the story progresses. Joe is about to make one hell of a permanent commitment and he's been doing some soul searching, he's going to be taking stock of his life and his relationships. _


	3. Chapter 3

**A/n:** _Pretty sure you all will come after me with pitchforks by the end of the chapter. Maybe tar and feathers too. __  
_

**Chapter Three**

Joe blearily stumbled to the front door and cracked it open. "Mornin' Sunshine!" Bruce chirped gaily as he shouldered past the still half asleep blond.

"What is it with all the damn morning people?" Joe groused as he tried to close the door, only to be stopped as a stranger stuck his foot in the way. Slightly shorter than he was, the sandy brown hair framed a long thin face and amber eyes full of suppressed mischief. He was very slender although he obviously had some muscle as he looked to be effortlessly carrying a huge framed back pack that was stuffed to the gills.

"If it's any consolation, I'm not a morning person either." the young man dropped the backpack and stuck out a hand. Joe automatically reached for it and shook. "Name's Mitch. I'm with him." Mitch jerked his head the vague direction Bruce had wandered.

"My condolences." Joe grinned slightly less blearily as he stepped aside to let the newcomer in. By then, Frank had wandered out, fully dressed of course and looking wide awake. Joe mumbled something about getting decent and disappeared int the bedroom.

By the time he emerged about 15 minutes later, the coffee was done brewing and Frank and Mitch were laughing over something Bruce had said. "What's so funny?" Joe asked as he greedily reached for the steaming cup his brother handed him.

"Oh apparently Melody has quite the reputation. Rumor has it she swore Mitch here off girls permanently in high school." Frank laughed, Mitch following right behind.

"That so? Not surprised. She is a bit of a ball buster..." Joe grinned as he shooed Bruce away from the stove and began cracking eggs into a bowl in preparation for omelet making.

"Not really. I knew long before that but you know how it goes, gotta keep up appearances to keep the family peace. She just happened the be the last one I dated before deciding it was too much effort to hide who I really was." Mitch explained. "After that I stayed off the market until college. Had to wait til this yahoo got back from Afghanistan to find a permanent partner." he looked fondly at his husband who blushed a little at the compliment.

"Hey at least they repealed DADT." Joe commented as he dished up the first omelet and handed it to Bruce. "Always did think that was a dumb ass reg. Like that had anything to do with your ability to do the job." Joe shook his head as he handed the second omelet to Mitch.

"Yeah, but we aren't here to discuss the mating habits of Ex Corpsmen." Bruce sobered as he tucked in to his omelet. "There was another incident yesterday."

"Oh?" Frank asked.

"Couple of kids out by the river got shot at." Bruce's voice was grim.

"Thought the only weapon allowed on park grounds was a fishing pole?" Joe asked, placing Frank's omelet in front of him.

"Exactly." Mitch spoke up. "The kids did say that the shots were above them, so it appears as if they were just warning shots. But warning away from what?!"

"Feel like a morning hike, Big Brother?" Joe asked innocently as he finally got to sit down and eat his own omelet.

"You know, I kinda do, Little Brother." Frank grinned fondly at his sibling.

Breakfast finished and clean up completed, Bruce suggested that he and his husband lead the brothers to the area where the shooting had occurred. "Sounds like a plan" Joe agreed. He and his brother quickly assembled their own backpacks, not nearly as comprehensive as Mitch's, as they had been planning on returning to the cabin each night. Before too long, all four were traipsing along the barely defined paths inside the main Park. Mitch and Bruce kept up a steady stream of interesting facts about the the land which currently encompassed the Park and all the political maneuvering before and after it had been officially declared a Protected Area. Joe even gained a new insight on Halloran's Grandfather, who somehow or another managed to successfully keep the family cabin, which had been some long ago ancestor's first home upon emigrating to America 200 years earlier, intact, and autonomous within the boundaries of the park.

It was maybe an hour or so of hiking that took them to the clearing that Bruce said had been the location where the three teens had been shot at. Only a few minutes later, Frank pointed out the deep gashes in a pair of trees that were just above their heads. "Ten bucks says I find slugs." he said as he motioned his stockier sibling over to give him a boost up. He flicked open his Multi tool and stepped on Joe's broad back, wincing imperceptibly as he did so, still unable to rid himself of the image of the extensive scarring that was an all to visible reminder of the torture Joe had endured while in the clutches of the Mazzola brothers. He worked quickly, allowing Bruce to steady him with a strong hand on his back. The first bullet came out quickly and he dropped it into Mitch's hand. The second took a little longer and Joe began making pointed comments about diets and fitting into tuxes for upcoming weddings. Frank studiously ignored the jibes and continued to worry the slug out of the bark. Once it came free he jumped lightly to the ground.

The four men clustered in a group, peering at the 2 innocuous pieces of metal nestled in Mitch's hand. "Pah. Beat to hell. We'll never get ballistics info." Joe spat in disgust. Frank was forced to concur, but didn't let that stop him.

"Maybe we can figure out the direction they were fired from though." The ever logical elder brother suggested. Bruce immediately pointed in a direction.

"That way." He said smugly.

"And you know this exactly how, Doc?" Joe asked with a hint of a grin.

"Becky told me."

Frank rolled his eyes. "Let me guess. Becky is one of the kids that got shot at and she saw something."

Unable to control himself any longer, Bruce laughed lightly. "That's about covers it, yeah. She's the local paper target champ around here. After the first shot, she knew what to look for. She says there was one, maybe 2 firearms, she thinks rifles or shotguns by the sound. Knowing her, she would have rushed after the culprits but her companions were, shall we say, less enthusiastic." Mitch barely suppressed a snort. At Joe's questioning look, Bruce continued. "Valley Girls." a world of information was conveyed with those two simple words.

"That is so 80's, dude." Joe guffawed. "And probably sexist."

"Accurate though" Mitch said _sotto voice_. He exchanged conspiratorial grins with his partner. "What?" he asked all innocently at Frank's reproving look. "Trina and Cathy are vapid, air headed, shallow, narcissistic and annoyingly perky." he grumped.

"Now , Hon, you really shouldn't talk about your sister and her best friend that way..." Bruce chided for about three seconds before rolling his eyes and laughing out loud at the apt description.

"Anyway." Frank cleared his throat to get everyone back on track. "Shall we at least try to track them?"

"Why not? Neither one of us has to work this weekend." Bruce indicated a safe place to cross the river which flowed nearby. " Ordinarily, we couldn't do this. River's way low though. Been a very dry season. In some places it's nothing but a trickle. And this heat wave ain't helping." The four men made their way across and then scattered, keeping each other in their lines of sight, as they all looked for tell tale signs of the person or persons who had pulled the trigger.

A couple of hours of search revealed nothing, and Frank eventually called a halt. "There's nothing here, guys." he finally said in resignation. "I don't suppose we could talk to the kids ourselves?"

"Becky would be the best one to talk to, the other two probably fainted or cowered behind a tree." Mitch snorted derisively. "In fact I'll go so far as to guarantee she'd want to help. She idolizes Mel and wants to follow in her footsteps."

"I'll try not to hold that against her." Joe grinned. "So when can we meet Miss Becky?"

"At the tent campground." Bruce chimed in. "They were all supposed to stay the full weekend, but the other two bailed after the incident. It's another hour or so walk. Can you hack it?" he smirked.

"I may have been a Snipe but I did my fair share of ruck marches Mister High and Mighty Greenside!" Joe stuck a tongue out in mock offense. Frank just shook his head in resignation and said he was quite capable of keeping up. It was a far easier walk from their present location to the campsite as the trail was well marked and developed. Bruce explained that most years the clearing was the best spot for trout fishing which was why the path was so well kept.

It was a pleasant walk all around, a light breeze and the trees keeping the ambient temperature tolerable and luckily there was little humidity. Joe and Bruce entertained the other two with Sea Stories about their Navy days. Frank listened intently, as Joe had seldom really discussed his five years away from home in anything more than vague terms. It seemed to him that Joe was opening up a lot more about his past. He was confused as to the reasons why, but wasn't going to say anything that might cause his brother to clam up again. He found a common kinship with Mitch, who turned out to be a fellow computer nerd and long suffering companion. They had a few quiet chuckles between themselves over the antics of their brother and husband respectively, causing a few disconcerted looks from the pair of Sailors.

After maybe 45 minutes, they started seeing small wooden signs that marked trails and gave directions to the two campground areas as well as the Public access lake. Bruce led them over to the trail marked 'tent camping' and soon was introducing the Hardy brothers to a young woman maybe 17 or 18 years of age with short brown hair and sparkling brown eyes. As soon as she was told the boys were there unofficially to help determine what happened, she was eager to give them anything she could. She invited them to take a seat around the small fire pit that had been fitted with a wire rack and a small propane stove placed on top. "Melody issued a Fire Ban this morning, says its way too dry. I agree. Hasn't rained in weeks." She spoke in a no nonsense voice, her maturity and self confidence belying her young age. Frank thought her personality was remarkably like a certain strawberry blond he knew when he was Becky's age. She also proved to be a PI's Dream Witness. She was concise, not prone to dramatics and was able to pass along her observations.

"So, the three of us were just walking along the trail. The Bobbsey Twins aren't really into the Great outdoors," here her eyes rolled so far up into her head Frank was sure she broke her retinas. "But part of our graduation requirements is Community Service. One of the options was doing general clean up and repairs at the Park. Trina thought there'd be ample opportunity to watch Roger get shirtless." she was referring to the star of the football team who had also signed up to be a part of the Park group. "But Melody had him and the other boys help Alex fix the rope bridge." Alex was the new Park Ranger. "She sent us to walk along the two main trails and pick up garbage."

Becky shifted a little, warming to her tale after noticing the older men were listening to her like she was an adult and not some kid. "Anywho, we had just gotten to the clearing. There really wasn't that much junk strewn about along the trails. Most of it seems to be at the campsites." She shook herself, focusing on the task at hand. "Trina and Cathy were grousing about not getting to watch Roger and not really picking up the trash." she looked straight at Joe, who smiled at her encouragingly. "You've seen the clearing?" at Joe's nod, she continued. "Well I was over by the treeline, and the other two were at the bank, fooling around, trying to push each other into the mud. Cathy got pushed, but managed to jump over to the other side instead of falling. Trina jumped after her and they started chasing each other. They had begun heading away from me when the first shots rang out." She stopped then, a small frown on her face as she tried to organize her thoughts better.

"What" Frank asked her quietly, sensing she was remembering something.

"It's funny, I never thought about it 'til just now. But we were in that clearing a good 15 or 20 minutes. So why did they wait until that moment to start shooting?!"

Frank and Joe exchanged a look, each coming to the same conclusion. "Because the other girls were headed towards whatever or whoever is behind these incidents and they either panicked, or wanted to scare you off." Frank surmised. Joe nodded in agreement. "But we just spent two hours there and found nothing." the frown on the elder Hardy's face was imperceptible.

"Well it _is_ possible that they covered their tracks, Bro." Joe commented. "We can't expect all the bad guys to be idiots." He stood up, stretching his arms above his head. "We can always go back tomorrow and expand our search." He turned to the other two men. "Wanna tag along? Could be fun."

Bruce shook his head regretfully. "Sorry, no can do. We already made plans." Joe sighed regretfully but was otherwise silent. In the meantime, Frank had turned to Becky and held out a hand.

"Thanks, you were a big help. If you remember anything else, just get in touch with Bruce or Mitch here and they'll pass it along." Becky frowned at this.

"Not Mel?!" she asked with a hint of challenge.

Bruce blushed. "Umm, she doesn't know I asked the guys to help." He shifted uncomfortably. "She may not take kindly to the insinuation that she can't handle this on her own, but I'm just worried this is bigger than she is prepared for. She's a great Park Ranger, Becky. But this is not something Rangers are trained for." his eyes pleaded for her understanding. Becky continued to frown but did not push the issue and finally gave a single nod.

The rest of the company stood up, slipping backpacks over shoulders in anticipation of another hike. "You guys need to be led back to the cabin?" Bruce asked with a mocking grin. Joe laughed and shook his head.

"Nahh, I think we can handle it. Why Frank here even knows North from South!" Joe teased. So the four took their leave of one another, one pair heading back to the clearing and beyond, and the other headed towards the parking lot and their truck. The brothers took their time, just enjoying the lovely weather and each other's company. They tossed around possible reasons for the goings on, with Joe coming up with more and more outlandish ones as they continued back to the clearing. When he mentioned alien invasion, Frank lost it and they had to stop, he was laughing so hard. By then they had returned to the clearing so they slipped off their backpacks and settled down to have a snack. Joe lightly tossed a bottle of water and an apple over to his brother before tucking into his own.

Frank had leaned up against the same tree he had earlier dug the slugs out of and had closed his eyes, just relaxing and enjoying the sounds of birds chirping. Even Joe had fallen silent and was stretched out on the ground, his head resting on his backpack. While neither man fell asleep, they were each lulled into a doze, so when the unmistakable sound of a buzz saw broke the silence, both of them jumped up at the sound, alert and wary.

"I thought you couldn't cut anything down?" Frank asked, confused.

"You can't" Joe replied grimly. "Every time we come up to the cabin we have to arrange to have deadfall delivered for firewood. Once in a blue moon Mel marks a few trees slated for removal due to disease or whatever, but by and large if Mother Nature doesn't provide, we have to rely on propane." Joe jumped to his feet, peering across the banks of the river towards the sound. "Let's go take a look!" and without waiting for an answer he nimbly leapt over the nearly dry river and sprinted toward the sound. Frank scrambled after him immediately, but was still a few hundred yards behind by the time he had jumped over the river.

Joe was still within sight, and had stopped just short of the treeline, displaying remarkable restraint, so Frank was unprepared for the next thing that happened. He was a good 200 yards away when the sharp, undeniable sound of a rifle burst through the trees. Frank watched in horror as his brother jerked back, spun around and fell out of his line of view.

**A/n: ***_Ducks for cover.* Wonder how long I can go before posting the next chapter...Luckily for you it's already written. so I might not torture you too long. But then again...I live to be mean and rotten... Bwahahahaha _


	4. Chapter 4

**A/n:** _I decided to set a good example and post an update. maybe that will encourage other people to do so as well. Please?!__  
_

**Chapter Four**

"Joe!" Frank took off at a dead run, not heeding the possibility of additional fire from the treeline. At the moment he didn't give a damn about himself, only that he reach his brother. As he raced closer to where he had seen Joe fall, he cursed the lack of communication. He should have insisted on radios or walkie talkies. He could have at least called for help that way.

He came to the approximate area where he thought Joe had been when he lost sight of him. He stopped short, having come upon a ravine that was not visible from his earlier vantage point. Breathing heavily, he had just enough presence of mind to crouch, making himself a smaller target. He frantically swept his gaze around but it was an eternity before he glimpsed a flash of the bright red plaid shirt his brother had been wearing. Frank's heart constricted as he discerned no movement at all. "Joe!" he screamed again, and when he got no response, he spent a precious few minutes looking for a safe way to get down the ravine. When he finally saw what he thought may provide a relatively safe descent, a good five minutes had passed. It was another 5 to get to the spot where he began slowly picking his way down amidst loose rocks, all to aware that one misstep and he could end up breaking a leg or worse.

By now Frank was frantic with worry. There was still no sign of life from his brother, despite his never taking his eyes off the still blond form. That fact greatly hindered his progress as he desperately tried to reach his sibling. So it was nearly 20 minutes after he had begun his descent into what was ultimately a fairly shallow ravine before he reached his brother.

Joe was face down on the ground, one arm flung above his head and the other apparently trapped beneath his body. The was a deep gash along his hairline, and the blood staining the jagged rock next to his head explained how that came to be there. Frank's heart leapt into his throat and he tried swallowing the lump that threatened to turn into a full blown sob. Chest heaving from his exertion, he fell to his knees and with nerveless fingers reached out to check for a pulse.

His own heart began beating again as he felt the steady throb of his brother's pulse. Shoulders sagging in minute relief, he gingerly turned Joe over. "Joe?" he asked softly, afraid to speak louder. Joe's eyes were closed but his breathing was steady. Then Frank's eyes lit upon the jagged hole in his brother's shirt, directly above his heart "Oh , gawd, no" he moaned until something nagged at the back of his brain. Where was all the blood? The only stuff he had seen so far was on the rock and Joe's scalp. With sudden trepidation, Frank ripped open his brother's shirt, expecting to find (_another_) hole in his brother's chest.

What he beheld then shocked the hell out of him. The slug from the weapon that had fired lay directly above Joe's heart. Firmly imbedded in the Kevlar of the bullet proof vest his brother was wearing. Frank gave a strangled laugh/sob and for the first time an half an hour was no longer terrified for his brother. "So help me I am going to kill you, little brother." Frank whispered fondly. "Quit scaring the shit out of me like that." The bottom of the ravine was yet another almost dry stream, but Frank was able to tear a strip of fabric off of Joe's shirt, moisten it and dab away at the clotted wound on Joe's head. It was another ten minutes but Joe finally began showing signs of waking up.

"Ow." it came out in a mumble as Joe weakly raised a hand to his head. Frank grabbed it and gently pulled it back down.

"Easy, Bro. You had a bit of a tumble." Frank soothed.

"Since when are you prone to understatement?!" Joe's voice grew stronger and he attempted to sit up, gingerly. He winced as the ache in his head upped the ante to a deep throb. Frank slipped a strong arm behind him and held him steady as he gasped, hand going to his chest. "I say again, Ow."

"You scared me to death Joe. I thought you were..." Frank choked up, unable to completely hold back the sob in his throat.

"Sorry." Joe shifted, trying to get his legs underneath him and stand up, but Frank pulled him back down. The wave of nausea convince him to take it easy. "Ya know I think I'll rest here a bit, if that's okay." Frank responded by cupping his brother's face in his hands and looking intently into his eyes.

"You have a concussion." Frank said the words flatly, it was a statement not a question. "Stay here, do _not_ move and I will be right back." At Joe's questioning look and head tilt, Frank continued. "I am just going back to get our back packs. It'll be dark soon and I am not going to try getting back to the cabin without a flashlight."

"Ahh. Umm, yeah I think that might be wise." Joe smiled wanly. "Look on the bright side, Bro. We didn't waste the weekend after all." Frank half heartedly whapped his brother on the shoulder, causing Joe to move too fast in an attempt to avoid it, eliciting a gasping groan. Joe wasn't sure which hurt more, his head or his chest. "I can't wait to see the bruise." he said sarcastically.

"Might be more than a bruise. You could have cracked ribs. Or broken. So _sit still_ while I am gone. Unless you wanna risk another pneumothorax?!"

"Not my first choice, no." Joe smiled wanly. His head was pounding, he was decidedly dizzy and nauseous and his entire torso hurt like hell. And yet he still knew he wasn't hurt that badly. He unconsciously fingered the heavy ballistic nylon that had saved his life and didn't even realize he shuddered as he did so. But Frank caught the movement. Lips thinning in concern, Frank heaved himself to his feet and repeated the admonishment to stay put. He'd interrogate his brother about the protective gear later.

Frank was true to his word and wasted no time clambering up the side of the ravine and quickly returned to the spot where their backpacks still lay, thankfully. He was half afraid that whoever had shot Joe had doubled back and absconded with their supplies. It was pretty much dusk by then, so he grabbed the one flashlight out of his pack and switched it on before settling his on his back and grabbing Joe's. The return trip was much faster, since he didn't need to look for a safe path, nor was he hampered by his need to stare at his brother the entire time. Not that he would have been able to in the growing darkness.

When he reached Joe's side again, he was momentarily alarmed as his brother's eyes were closed and he was breathing very shallowly. "Joe?" He gave a sigh of relief when Joe's eyes opened immediately. Had he fallen asleep or lost consciousness with a concussion the results could be very bad.

"Hey." Joe's voice was very quiet. "My butt's asleep." his mouth quirked in a tiny grin. "Help me up?" Joe stuck out a hand. Frank grasped his wrist with one hand and a shoulder with the other, pulling him upright with a bit of a stumble. They stood there a moment, Joe fighting the wave of dizziness and Frank noting with alarm that Joe was shaking. He couldn't tell if it was from cold or shock, though.

"Let's get you back to the cabin where I can take a proper look at your chest." Frank started, only to be interrupted by a strangled laugh from his brother.

"Dude, do you have any idea at all how that sounded?!" Joe ginned affectionately. "You forget? I am am happily engaged, thankyewverymuch." he poked Frank with a forefinger. "Besides incest is so Game of Thrones."

"Okay first off, _ewwww_." Frank grimaced. "You know damn well I didn't mean it that way." He slipped his free hand around Joe's waist and steered him to the safe passage up the side of the ravine. Since he was familiar with it by then, it was no trouble at all to get back to the top , even with Joe being hampered by the concussion. They soon found themselves back in the clearing, on the way to the cabin. The one hour trek from earlier in the day doubled on the way back as Joe needed to stop several times times to catch his breath. Eventually, however, both men gave sighs of relief as they reached the cabin.

Frank pushed open the door and gently maneuvered Joe straight into the bedroom where he immediately had him sit on the edge of the bed and removed the vest. Both men hissed at the movement, Joe from pain and Frank from shock at the sight of the ugly mottled bruise that covered the entire left side of Joe's chest from shoulder to navel. "Just tape me up good and tight, Frank." Joe requested. "You can have Bruce take a look in the morning. Check the bathroom, I think I left some T3 in there from when I twisted my knee up at the Youth Center." He wanted very badly to lay down, but knew if he did so, sitting back up to have the ribs taped would be agony. With a small frown of disapproval, Frank went into the bathroom and after a few minutes returned with a few ace bandages from the first aid kit and a small bottle of Tylenol with codeine. He silently but gently wound the bandages around Joe's ribcage, taking great care not to jostle his brother too much while still pulling the bandages tight. There was little conversation, Joe spending his time focusing on not letting the pain get to him and Frank concentrating on getting his brother settled. Once the final bandage was secured, though, Frank asked "You hungry?"

Joe nodded tiredly. "Yeah, but nothing fancy. Should be some soup in the cupboard." He gingerly swung his legs up on the bed and leaned against the headboard. "I'll just hang here for a bit..." Frank frowned again but left the room and rustled up a light dinner. Opting to use the propane grill instead of wrestling with the wood burning stove, he soon had a pan of vegetable soup bubbling away. It was warm enough that he decided it wasn't necessary to build a fire in the living room. He poked around and found a large serving tray, so he placed two bowls full of soup on it and added a sleeve of crackers. He slipped back into the bedroom,where he found Joe asleep. He set the tray down and nudged his brother. "Wha'?! I'm awake, quit poking me." Joe responded a little peevishly.

Frank chuckled as he handed his brother a bowl and a spoon. "My my aren't we grumpy. How's your head?"

"Throbbing in perfect harmony with my ribs, lucky me. I suppose you are going to wake me up every 15 minutes all night to make sure I haven't fallen into a coma?" he groused.

Frank chucked a finger under Joe's chin and looked into his eyes again. "Pupils aren't too bad. I may be magnanimous and stretch it to every 30 minutes."

"Gee. Thanks ever so." he said between slurps.

"You know me, always the nice guy." Frank sat on the vanity chair and slurped his own soup. They finished dinner in relative silence, the only sounds being the crunch of crackers being crumbled into the soup and the continued slurping. At one point Joe made a comment that Aunt Gertrude would have reamed them out for being so noisy. Frank just replied that in some cultures it was considered the highest compliment to slurp. Once the bowls were empty, Frank took them back out to the kitchen and set the kettle on to boil, fixing some tea. Liberally dousing them with honey, he returned to the bedroom with 2 mugs.

"So, feel like explaining the fashion accessory?" Frank asked as he handed Joe his tea.

Joe had a look cross his face that was a strange combination of fear, embarrassment and shame. "Ummm..."

"Don't get me wrong, I couldn't be more relieved, but, Joe? Since when do you wear a bullet proof vest?"

Joe sighed. "Promise not to laugh? Or be disappointed?"

"That you are still alive? And not seriously hurt? I think I can manage. What's up?"

Joe took a deep breath, wincing as he did so. "It was something Greg said once. About how a lot of the guys were wearing them all the time, and not just on raids." Joe shifted so that he could more easily look Frank in the eye straight on. "He said nearly all of the guys with families did so as a matter of course. Sort if like an additional insurance policy." He nervously picked at the quilt he was laying on. "I don't have to tell you, of all people, how reckless I can be, and have been. And while I know I have mellowed a lot, and even you have to admit I take fewer idiotic chances , I also am also man enough to admit that I still backslide once in a while." he stopped, gathering his thoughts. " I have offered to quit, twice now, if Hall wasn't comfortable with the dangers. Both times she insisted it was okay, but I still see the worry in her face. She's already lost too many men she loved, Frank. I don't want to be the next one on the list." Joe's eyes shown with unshed tears.

Frank sat back, digesting the explanation. He was silent so long that Joe started to get nervous. "Frank? Say something!"

"I guess I can understand that point of view, Joe. And if it means that you are safer, I am all for it." Frank smiled gently.

"So you don't think I've lost my edge? Or that I am turning into a scaredy cat?" Joe pleaded.

"Pretty sure this afternoon proved the exact opposite, little brother. So as long as you don't suddenly start thinking you are invincible again, or that the vest will protect you from everything, causing you to regress back into Headstrong Hardy, I'm okay with it." Frank peered deeper into his brother's eyes. "That why you never said anything? You thought I'd stop trusting you to have my back or think less of you for _finally_ doing what I have been begging you to do for the past 15 years?!"

Joe smiled sheepishly in admission. "I didn't want to you think I'd panic, or freeze if things got too hot. And yeah, Greg did warn me not to fall into the trap of thinking it wasn't necessary to take precautions just because I was wearing. I just..want to give Halloran as much peace of mind as I can give her, you know?"

Actually, Frank didn't know, at least not personally. But his mind flashed back on the many times his father had downplayed or hidden his injuries and those of his sons from Laura. Not because he thought their mother couldn't handle the truth but because he didn't want to cause her more distress than she already dealt with. "I have a pretty good idea, yeah. You really are head over heels for her, aren't you?" he asked fondly.

"You have no idea, Bro. It's like there's a big empty space in my gut when we aren't together. Not to sound like a lovesick teenager, but it was all I could do last night to not run back to the car and find a signal just so I could text her goodnight." Joe's eyes softened and took on a faraway gaze as he spoke. The moment ended though, with a jaw breaking yawn. "45 minutes between checks? Please?!" he begged with his trademark puppy dog eyes.

"I'll think about it." Frank chuckled as he stood up. He helped Joe get under the covers but before leaving the room, he bent over and pressed his lips to his brother's tousled head. "Next time warn me that you are playing it safe. My nerves can't handle the excitement" He whispered before shutting his eyes against the tears that threatened to spill and thus embarrass them both. He softly closed the door behind him and padded out to the living room where he made himself comfortable on the couch.

Throughout the night, he continued to check on Joe, making sure that he could be roused without any more than the usual difficulty. About midnight he decided to make it 2 hours between attempts, figuring Joe had kept down the soup and his pupils had returned to their normal state fairly early on. But at 4 am, he fell asleep and slept right through the rest of the night until the pounding of a very angry fist on the door woke him up just before 10 am.

**A/n: **_ See? that wasn't so bad was it?! bet you are sorry you all came after me with pitchforks now. _


	5. Chapter 5

**A/n:** _I have a confession to make. I ordinarily try to have the following chapter done or mostly done before posting the current one. but for some reason I just haven't been up to writing all week. But at the same time I don't want to make everyone suffer, so you are getting this one now. However I make no promises that the next one will be up in any reasonable time frame. Apparently my husband has evil nefarious plans for Monday. he owes me, he missed two or is it three? birthdays in a row..._

**Chapter Five**

Frank was so startled by the sudden noise that he fell off the couch into an undignified heap on the floor. His legs got so tangled up in the blanket that the pounding got ever louder, accompanied by a snarling voice demanding that they open up right the f-ck now. By the time he had managed to get upright, Joe was at the doorway, looking for all the world like he really did _not_ want to open the door. "Maybe if we keep quiet she'll go away!" he whispered fearfully.

Frank snorted. "More like she'll kick the door down. Go start the coffee, I'll get it." Squaring his shoulders in both resignation and resolution, he stalked over to the door and yanked it open, causing Melody Harper to lose her balance and fall against his chest. She immediately straightened back up with a growl and a glare.

"Who the hell do you think you are?!" she spat, stalking past the tall brunette with a shove and forcing her way onward toward the kitchen. She stopped short, however, when she saw Joe standing there shirtless but wrapped up in gauze from his waist to his pectorals. "What the hell happened to you?!" she ground out but a trifle less vehemently than a second ago.

"The same guys who took a pot shot at Becky and the others took one at me. Only they didn't miss. Luckily, thanks to a little foresight on my part, all I have to show for it is a bruise and a mild concussion." before she could draw breath to respond, Joe put up a hand. "Yes, Melody, we were going to report it. I even plan on asking Bruce to have a look see to make sure nothing's broken." he turned back to the stove and set the stove top coffee maker on to boil.

Frank slid past the tall blond who was standing there in confusion. "Might I humbly suggest you get all the civilians out of the Park until we can resolve this thing? The next hiker could end up dead." he continued on over to the stove and stood next to Joe, forcing his brother to face him as he peered intently into his eyes. "How's the head?"

"Down to a dull ache. Just don't ask me about my ribs." with a grim smile, Joe deftly evaded Frank's attempt to grab him by the shoulders and started pulling coffee mugs out of the cupboard. By then the coffee was done percolating so he deftly poured three mugs and shoved one in Melody's hands. "Don't you start, either!" he growled at her. "Bruce had a feeling you'd overreact, so he came to us himself rather than suggest it to you. And looks like he was right. Face it, Mel, this is over your head. You _need_ our help if you want to prevent anyone else from getting hurt. Or worse." Joe stood there, daring her to challenge what he had just said.

Melody stood there, a thunderous look in her eyes. "Doesn't change the fact you went behind my back."

"Technically," Frank interjected. "We did no such thing. Bruce was the one that hired us. As the client, we have to respect his wishes." Frank returned the glare steadily, not backing down an inch. "I suppose Becky spilled the beans?"

"_She_ at least has a sense of propriety!" Melody's voice was venomous.

Joe slapped his hand on the table forcefully, causing the others to jump. "That is _enough_!" he seethed. I don't give a damn about propriety or your hurt feelings! Those sons of bitches would have killed me if I hadn't been wearing a vest. It's a damn miracle Becky or the other girls weren't hurt. So what, does somebody have to die before you swallow your freaking pride and accept our help?" Joe stood up straight, all six feet and 165 pounds of him looming larger than life as he advanced on Melody. She scrambled back, crashing into Frank's slightly taller and lighter frame. The effect was somewhat diminished by the fact the blood suddenly drained out of Joe's flushed face and he began gasping in short, shallow breaths. Frank immediately and unceremoniously grabbed Mel by the upper arms and shoved her to the side as he raced to his brother's side and helped him sit down before he fell down.

Joe shoved away his brother's hand. "I'm fine. Just give me a sec, " he wheezed, still glaring at the Park Ranger.

"No, you are not fine, and as she has demonstrated time and time again, Melody has no use for either of us. We are wasting our time here and I am not going to sit here and be abused by someone who clearly does not want our help. I am taking you home, where I intend to drag your ass to the hospital for x-rays. And then I am going to turn you over to your fianceé so she can ream you out." Frank declared in a no nonsense tone. He pointedly ignored Melody and helped Joe stand up. As soon as Joe was able to stand without any assistance, he stalked out of the room and began the task of packing up their stuff.

Joe had decided it wasn't worth arguing the point with Frank, as the headache had come back with a vengeance and he was feeling nauseated again. Coupled with the fact that every breath was agony, and his utter lack of desire to butt heads with his fianceé's best friend (again), he accepted Frank's declaration with none of his usual protestations or arguments. "Melody, I am sure you can see yourself out." he said eventually, with no acrimony but with a tinge of finality that brooked no argument. He barely looked at her as he slowly made his way around the counter and began transferring a few perishables back into the coolers.

Melody stood there, still furious but when neither man made any move to engage her in any way, she finally snapped. "I never asked for any help and I sure as hell don't need it from a couple of jackasses." she whirled in place and stormed out of the cabin, slamming the door behind her. Frank came back into the kitchen and placed his hands on Joe's shoulders.

"You okay?" he asked softly.

Joe took a slow but deep breath and nodded, although his shoulders slumped. "I don't get it, Bro. I can get along with anybody. Why does she hate me so much?" he moaned. "I want us to at least be civil to one another, for Hall's sake."

"It's _**not**_ your fault, Joe. It's hers. She just has a chip on her shoulder is all." Frank gently squeezed Joe's shoulders before letting go. "I am about done, just need to load everything on the cart and we can get outta here."

"But doesn't it bug you, that we didn't solve the mystery?" Joe cried, frustration evident. 'We never give up, Frank!"

"Not as much as it would bug me if you weren't standing here pissing and moaning." Frank replied. "I'd rather fail than lose you." He gave another comforting squeeze then set about loading the dolly. Soon, everything was ready to go and Joe locked the cabin door behind them as they took off. Frank would not let Joe do anything more strenuous than walk along behind to keep the pile balanced. Again, it was a much longer trek since Joe was not really up to walking very fast nor could he lessen Frank's burden by carrying some of the bags. By the time they got to the SUV, Frank was tired and Joe was white as a sheet. The entire time Frank was loading the back, Joe was apologizing profusely at not being up to helping. Frank eventually snapped at him to shut up already. "Now I know how you always felt when I spent all day begging your forgiveness. It's annoying. Why didn't you smack me upside the head sooner?" that at least got a smirk out of Joe, who slid into the passenger side and almost immediately fell asleep.

As soon as he got a cell signal, Frank called Halloran and asked her to meet them at Bayport General in a couple of hours. He quickly reassured her that Joe was probably only minimally damaged but he was just making sure with a couple of x-rays. He never mentioned Melody or her attitude. Then he called his parents. Fenton was out golfing with Con Riley but he emphasized to Laura that Joe really was fine and she didn't need to drop everything but he was just passing the information along. The entire time, Joe never moved, although he did snore a little.

Halloran met then at the entrance to the Emergency Department. The dirty look Joe gave his brother when he awoke and saw her spoke volumes. "You just had to do it, didn't you?!" he groused as he allowed the petite dark haired beauty to help him out of the SUV. "Babe, I am _fine_, really." he insisted even as he sat in the wheelchair she had shoved into the back of his knees. He continued the grumbling all the way inside, but was ignored by both of them.

It was a slow day, so Joe was whisked back into an exam room within 15 minutes. Frank spent the time explaining to Hall exactly why they had gone out to the cabin and what Melody had done when she found out. Although she was a little mad that Joe hadn't told her the entire truth about the reason for their trip, she was furious at Melody's response to both Joe's being hurt and her refusal to appreciate that they had been trying to help in the first place. She barely held her anger in check as she excused herself to step outside. As she was walking out, she was already dialing her cell. She was still outside when Joe returned.

Told you I was fine!" he huffed. "Nothing broken, just some seriously deep tissue bruising. Taped up nice and tight, just need to alternate between ice and heat. Oh, and I am supposed to be on bed rest for like a week. We both know that will never happen." Joe grinned as he finished signing out. "Where's my girl?" he asked, looking around.

"She went outside to make a phone call. My guess, she called Melody." Frank replied.

"Oh, man, what'd you go and tell her for?! She's gonna be pissed at me." Joe whined. "Now I'll haveta buy her wine, chocolate _and _ flowers before she forgives me."

"Actually she was more mad at Melody than she was at you. You may be able to get away with two outta three." Frank suggested with a smirk. He easily sidestepped the weak punch Joe threw in his direction. As they walked outside, Halloran was just hanging up the phone. Her face was flushed and she looked like she could spit nails. However as soon as she saw Joe, her face smoothed out and her eyes softened. She reached out both hands and embraced him very gently.

"Are you okay?" she asked softly as she kissed him lightly on the lips. Joe returned the smootch with a little more force.

"Like I said, I'm fine. Just have to go easy a few days is all. You're not mad at me?" he asked anxiously.

She shook her head. "I was, but I am just so relieved you are okay. Besides I know why you did it and I know you had reason to think I'd tattle tell." She squeezed one more time before stepping back. "Honey, no matter what, I will always choose You. Don't ever think otherwise." a pool of tears filled her eyes. "I need a new Maid of Honor."

Joe was stunned, and a little chagrined. "oh, Babe, I never meant to come between you two, you know that, right?!" even Frank chimed in with his own apologies, but Halloran shook her head.

"No, it's all good. She's done nothing but try and undermine you since you first met her. She keeps insisting you are a money grubbing slime who only wants my money. She refuses to listen to anything I say."

"Um, Babe? Why on earth does she think that?!" Joe was quite frankly incredulous at the revelation. He was even more confused when Frank started chuckling. "What's so funny?!" he challenged.

"Told ya." Frank smirked at Halloran. "He doesn't have a clue."

"Would someone kindly tell me what the hell it is I supposedly have no clue about?!" by now Joe was getting angry. Both his brother and his fianceé immediately sought to placate him.

"Little Brother when you walk down the aisle you will be marrying one of the richest people in the State, let alone Bayport." Frank's grin was very smug. "Hall's net worth, just from Infotech alone is upwards of several million."

"And that doesn't count the insurance from Gramps, Mark and what was left of my Dad's when Mom died." Halloran finished, with a hint of shyness.

Joe stood there, mouth open. "Just howinhell did you know this?!" he challenged his brother.

"Every time I think about placing an order from a company for the first time, I do research on their viability." Frank explained. "I knew what Infotech was worth before you two even met." Frank crossed his arms. "And since you never saw fit to tell me where your girlfriend worked, or rather, owned, how was I supposed to make the connection?!"

Joe finally threw up his hands in disgust. "I give up. I really do. Can we just go home, please?!" he begged. Halloran immediately agreed and thanked Frank for letting her know, but she was bringing Joe home now. Frank chuckled one last time and told Joe he could have 2 days off before having to show his face in the office. Joe was quite pleased at that despite Halloran's glare at both of them. They parted then, Halloran leading Joe to her car.

The drive back to the home they shared was quiet. Hall kept glancing over to Joe, who had once again leaned back and closed his eyes, although he snuck a hand over and lightly laid it on her leg. By the time they got there, he had fallen asleep. "Hey, Studmuffin." she said softly. We're here." Joe woke up immediately and managed to get himself inside under his own power although he went straight from car to couch. Halloran fussed over him a little, but only a little, knowing he never was very good at being coddled. The rest of the afternoon he was pensive and a little melancholy, being caught up with the revelation that had so shocked him in the hospital's parking lot. Eventually, Halloran called him on it.

She sat down on the chair across from the couch and said, "Joe. Look at me." he did so, reluctantly. "I have not, and have never, thought that you were after my money. That is solely Mel's delusion. Don't ask me why she has it in her head. I certainly never gave her any reason to think that." She sighed. "It's not like I flaunt it or anything, so unless you are your brother, there'd be no reason for you to go looking up my net worth anyway."

"Speaking of Frank, "Joe started. "He obviously knew."

"Yes. He came by one afternoon, looking for you, just before Christmas. He tried to act all nonchalant, but it was clear he was kind of embarrassed to even ask. He seemed to think it was extremely important that I knew that you weren't that kind of guy. He was pretty circumspect about it, but kept hinting that you weren't hurting for money either." Joe gave a short bark of bitter laughter at that.

"You could say that. Between all the reward money over the years, plus pretty much not spending a dime while in the Navy, and counting my half of Aunt Gertrude's inheritance, I really don't even need the salary I get from the Agency." Joe rolled his eyes.

"So maybe I am the one after your money..." she teased. Joe tossed a pillow at her at that comment but appeared to be mollified at her reassurances. She tried to distract him by showing him sample pictures from the Florist she had finally chosen. He made appropriately excited noises despite not knowing the difference between baby's breath and sweet alyssum and their uses as filler. Hall made a light dinner and made him go to bed early.

Joe spent the next two days on the couch under strict orders from both his future wife and his mother. Halloran put him to use addressing invitations and Fenton came by each day to keep him company. He was bored, but not mind numbingly so. But he was up with Halloran on day 3 at 6 am. He assured her he was feeling much better and showed her just how better he was feeling by 'helping' her take her morning shower after yoga.

When he strolled into the office a little after 9, Frank was immediately at his side, peering into sapphire blue eyes. "Dude. I'm fine. No headache in over 24 hours. My side only hurts when I laugh, so no cracking jokes. Yes I promise to take it easy. In fact I thought I'd spend the day making phone calls and doing a little research." Joe ticked off each statement with a finger, not letting Frank get a word in edgewise. He then proceeded to pour himself a cup of coffee and retired to his office where he promptly closed the door behind him.

**A/n: ** _So, anyone ready to string Melody up by the short hairs yet?!_


	6. Chapter 6

**A/n:** _ Welp, I did it again, didn't get as much done as I wanted. so while this chapter is finally complete, I do NOT have anything going further so it may be longer before the next exciting update. sorry. But I scrapped the way I was headed about halfway through this chapter which messed up my time table by a lot but I at least have a better feel for how everything is going to happen from now on. __  
_

**Chapter Six**

Joe made his way around his desk and sat down. He turned on his laptop and waited for it to cycle through, tapping his fingers impatiently as he watched all the auto start programs kick in. By force of habit, the first icon he clicked on was Spider Solitaire although he paid little attention to the cards as they skittered across the screen. He was cycling through his inbox, deleting spam and moving some messages to various folders when the phone rang. "Joe Hardy speaking." he spoke into the mouthpiece crisply.

"_Hey_. _It's me_." The voice on the other end sounded defeated. "_Alex is dead._" when he heard that, Joe sat straight up with a curse.

"Tell me what the f-ck happened!" he spat out in a loud voice even as he glanced at the closed door hoping Frank hadn't heard.

"_You were right, of course._" Bruce said sadly. "_Mel told me to mind my own business and to stay the hell out of her way._" Joe heard the resigned sigh at the other end of the phone. "_She at least closed the campground but refused to bring in any outside assistance.__So she and Alex were checking out that treeline where you got shot._"

"Go on," Joe encouraged the distraught Paramedic.

"_Don't know any details, just that the Department got called to the location._" Bruce continued. "_My Chief pronounced Alex DOA from multiple gun shot wounds._"

"Hell, Bruce, I am sorry man. I wish we could have done something." Joe felt bad for his friend.

"_Nah, not your fault.__Mel got hurt too._" Bruce paused, waiting for a reaction. Joe let out an explosive breath with a hiss.

"She okay?" While he was still furious at the Park Ranger for the attitude he had been subjected to, she was still Halloran's oldest and dearest friend, despite their current estrangement. In fact over the last couple of days he had ben trying to get her to reconsider her 'firing' of Melody as Maid of Honor.

"_Hit in the shoulder and a graze along one thigh._" Bruce spoke, relief evident in his voice. "_She somehow managed to get back to the parking lot on her own.__She'll be fine.__But Joe?_" he continued hesitantly. "_I don't know what to do now.__"_

Joe sighed. "I don't know what to tell ya, Bud. Stubborn as she is, Melody is a big girl and if she doesn't want help, we can't make her accept it. All I can think of that will come next is the Feds will be brought in, since a Government employee was killed. When they get around to questioning you, send 'em our way." Bruce agreed, the desperation in his tone indicating his true feelings.

After he hung up, Joe sat there, debating whether or not to tell either his brother or his fianceé. Eventually he decided Frank would not react any differently than he had but Halloran would want to know. He did, however, decide to wait until they were home together to break the news. He spent the rest of the afternoon with his office door shut, coming out only once or twice to take a break and grab some coffee. Frank, surprisingly, left him alone the entire time. But Joe didn't dwell on his unusual autonomy and forced himself to set aside the lingering unease over letting a case go unfinished while he continued to make headway on what he could accomplish.

He was so engrossed that when Frank rapped on the door a little before 6, Joe jumped about two feet in the air and dropped the pen he had been tapping against the desk in unconscious rhythm with the rock song playing in the background. "Sheesh. Give a guy a heart attack will ya!" Joe groused as Frank chuckled in the doorway.

"Get a lot done?" he asked mildly, still grinning.

"As a matter of fact, yes, I did." Joe retorted haughtily. "Reed sent some information on two new kidnapping cases that meet the criteria." Joe was referring to his self imposed project that he began after Danny Frisk's kidnapping and subsequent rescue. Rather than be an official case the Agency had been hired for, this was something he worked on in between cases or when he had some down time. It hadn't quite become an obsession with him, but Frank wondered what the fascination was. As long as it never interfered with the cases the Agency got paid for, though, Frank was willing to let it slide.

"Well," Frank continued. "I am about done for the day. Meeting Phil for drinks over at the Pub. Wanna join us?"

Joe considered, but shook his head after a moment. "Nahh. Hall made Cincinnati Chili." It was still weird to eat 'chili' over spaghetti, but he could not deny it was quite the tasty meal regardless. And the leftovers worked just fine on hot dogs. Besides he wanted to tell her what had happened as soon as possible. Frank just nodded and said "Lock up before you go then."

"Always do, Bro." Joe replied. He absentmindedly waved as he returned to his task. Frank regarded him only a minute longer before shrugging and turned to leave. He met Phil upstairs and sent a few minutes just chatting with Pam as Phil did a quick change out of his suit into a polo shirt and Dockers.

Joe, meanwhile had finished up what he was doing and quickly closed out the office, making sure the alarm was set. He was late enough getting out that traffic was mostly sporadic and he made good time home. As he walked in, he inhaled the faint aroma of cinnamon. The first time he watched Halloran make it, he was flabbergasted at the addition of what he considered a baking spice, even if he himself used it frequently in coffee. But there was no denying it added a little something to the recipe and he surpassed even his own wildest claims that first time and consumed 4 heaping servings. He ate so much in fact, that Halloran had had to boil another batch of spaghetti and chop a second onion.

The last couple of days, Hall had been a little less her usually bubbly self. She was still mourning her falling out with Melody. Joe slipped up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist in a gentle squeeze. "Hey Gorgeous. How was the exciting world of Number Crunching today?" He got a scoff in return, although she did turn in place and slipped her arms around his neck. He let her pull him closer without much resistance and gave her a long, lingering kiss. "Hey, Sexy" he whispered in a husky voice, wondering if dinner would be ruined if it sat and simmered a little while longer...

Turned out that Cincinnati chili can simmer a very long time indeed. The spaghetti, however, did not fare so well so Joe was pressed into making a new batch "Since it was all your fault the first batch was ruined to begin with!" Halloran teased. Joe laughed in resignation and tossed out the glob of starch and filled the pan with fresh water to boil. He used the time to procrastinate telling her, and to brainstorm on just how exactly to do so. But eventually there were no more ways to put it off. He piled his bowl high with fresh spaghetti, ladled a generous portion of chili on top then sprinkled enough onions over that that Halloran declared that if he wanted any more kisses he'd have to brush his teeth first. He responded by covering everything with enough cheese to make one of Tony's double cheese pizzas.

The meal was quiet, quieter than normal. Joe was wrapped in his own thoughts and Halloran was still brooding although she was well aware of Joe's mood. She finally sighed, pushed her bowl away and said "Okay, out with it." she was unswayed by the innocent look Joe sent her way. "Something is bugging you. Is it work?"

"Have you been taking lessons from my brother?!" Joe asked little sourly. "Only he can tell when I am antsy about something."

Halloran made no reply, just placed her hand over his. Joe responded by taking is free hand and wrapping it gently over their clasped ones. "Bruce called me this morning." he said gently. "There was another incident." At her horrified gasp, he tightened his grip. "She's fine" he hastened to reassure her. "But the other Ranger is dead." Halloran's eyes welled up with tears at the announcement.

Joe took a deep breath, knowing his next words would be harder to take. "Melody was shot too." A little shriek escaped Hall's lips and Joe immediately stood up and came around the table, pulling her close. "She's _okay_ Babe, I swear. No worse than I was." It took a long time, though, for her trembling to stop.

Joe finally led her into the living room and got her settled on the couch, where he tucked the throw around her before placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. "I'll be right back." he whispered and returned to the kitchen where he made two steaming mugs of green tea and dosed them liberally with honey. By the time he got back to the living room, Halloran had regained some measure of control although her eyes were still red and puffy. She accepted the tea with a wan smile and shifted so that Joe could sit next to her. She leaned into him as he explained everything that Bruce had told him earlier in the day. She didn't respond to much, only nodded here and there to indicate she was paying attention.

"Honey?" he finally asked tentatively. "D'you want to call Melody?"

"Yes. But I'm not going to." she said sadly.

Joe was confused, and said so. "She's made her choice, Joe. And I have made mine. She's been pushing people away for years, and nothing anyone has said or done to convince her otherwise has helped. I'm sorry, I just don't have it in me any more to keep trying to help, when it is so obviously not wanted." Halloran's voice was sad and resigned.

"Sweetheart, she's your friend, you don't just abandon them..." Joe began, a tone of rebuke in his voice.

"You do when they become ungrateful users of your sympathies and emotions." Halloran responded tartly. "Honestly, it's been a long time coming. I was fed up with her attitude a long time ago, years, even. It was only a sense of duty and responsibility that kept me from walking away sooner." she smiled up at his concerned face, "You are lucky, you know that? Between Frank, and Phil and Tony and all your other friends. You have always had a great relationship that was based on mutual respect and caring. When any one of you is having a bad time of it, you all rally around, no matter what. Even when one of you moved away, you all still kept in touch." she touched his face in a gentle caress. "and what's even more amazing, is when someone new comes along. You all immediately make someone feel welcome and liked. First me, then Pam. Surely you haven't forgotten the way Mel treated you the first time you met?"

Joe had to suppress a grimace at that. He still vividly recalled the almost hostile interrogation at Melody's hands that afternoon. And nearly every encounter since then. If he didn't know better, he'd swear that Melody was possessive of Halloran. But he didn't think it was _that_ sort of possession. "it just seems like giving up, is all.."

"You know what the definition of insanity is, dear? Doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different outcome. I've decided I don't like being insane. Too much effort." She smiled again, this time a little more warmly. "Of course I regret this. Melody was there for me, in her own way, when dad died and then Mark. But I am not giving up. She made that choice for me. I am sorry that she has chosen to go the route she has, but I can't wallow anymore. In fact!" she suddenly sat straight up in realization. "That's exactly what she kept me doing, wallowing!" the dark haired woman turned a shocked face to her blond fiancé. "Every time we got together it was all about the past. I just realized. She didn't help me move on.. _you_ did. Oh, Joe!" she flung herself into his startled embrace. They sat there, holding tightly to one another as Joe tried to process the information and Halloran finally allowed herself the luxury of letting go without guilt.

The next two days, Joe spent his time divided between preparing a statement for the inevitable visit from the Feds, probably FBI, working on his mysterious kidnapper case and current Agency business. He had confided in his father the news about Alex and Melody, and sought his mother's insight on Halloran's revelation and begged for some way of deciphering a woman's psyche. Fenton had listened gravely and suggested that it would not be amiss to continue keeping abreast of any further developments just in case the feds wanted additional help( they had both lightly scoffed at that notion) and Laura had simply smiled and said she was not about to give away any advantage her gender had.

As for Frank...The next morning he had told Frank that Bruce had called and gave the bare facts. Frank, for his part, took the news rather calmly, almost detached. Joe had gotten the impression that if the name Melody Harper was never uttered in his brother's presence again, it would be too soon. After hearing the news, Frank had nodded and passed over a file on their latest case, asking Joe to let him know when he felt up to field work again. "Just make sure you are ready, no jumping the gun." in an affectionate but teasing tone. Joe tried( and failed miserably) to look innocent.

The third day, Joe was once again at his desk although very little was getting done besides Spider Solitaire. He was frustrated over having given up, in his own mind at least, the mystery surrounding the Park. It rankled him on more than one level that everyone was so willing to let the matter drop. But he also knew it was useless to push the issue with Frank, who had been quite clear from the get go he wasn't all that keen on getting involved in the first place. Bruce had called the day before, remarking that the Feds had been by and he duly passed on their contact information so Joe should be expecting a visit any time. He was so engrossed in whatever he was doing Joe not only never heard the little bell jungle that heralded a visitor, he also completely missed the fact that two people were standing in his open doorway for a good five minutes before one of them pointedly cleared their throat.

"Gimme a sec, Bro. Almost got this stupid thing to tell me where those blasted emails to Meyers came from." Joe was referring to a current client who had been receiving threatening emails at work and at home regarding his very acrimonious divorce and custody issues. Meyers thought they were from his soon to be ex wife's boyfriend, and the man he now suspected of being the father to his youngest child.

"Mr Hardy." The voice was unfamiliar and Joe looked up in surprise to find a pair of individuals who just screamed "FEDS" from their identical grey suits, somber ties and regulation shoulder holsters that peeked out from underneath their armpits. "I am Special Agent Connely and this is my partner Agent Mayweather. May we have a few minutes of your time?" the shorter of the two men spoke in a pleasant voice.

"Uh, yeah, sure. Sorry, never heard anyone come in." Joe hastily stood up and offered his hand, which was duly accepted by each man. "You here about the National Park incidents?"

"Would there be any other reason the FBI would need to speak to you, Mr Hardy?" Connely asked with a hint of amusement.

"You'd be surprised, Special Agent." Joe grinned as he gestured for the men to return to the reception area and offered them coffee. Both declined. Joe rapped on his brother's (closed) office door and spoke. "Frank? Company."

Joe returned to his office for a moment, returning with a small envelope and a larger file folder, which he handed to Agent Mayweather. Mayweather accepted it with a puzzled look. "It's the bullet fragments we dug out of the tree and my vest, and the file folder is my report. I am sure Frank will have more to add."

Their surprise was evident although both men covered it well. By then Frank had come out, apologizing as he had been on the phone. Another round of handshakes later and he asked if they had any further questions. The next half hour or so was spent with the brothers recounting their tale, pausing to answer clarifying questions either agent asked. At the end, the two FBI Agents traded significant looks with each other. Frank noticed and called them on it.

"Our apologies, gentlemen. I am afraid we had some preconceived notions that were less than flattering of you and your professionalism." Connely spoke with a hint of embarrassment.

"Don't believe anything Ranger Harper says about our character and only half of what she says about our ability to do our job." Frank's tone left nothing to the imagination. "We were asked to look into the matter by her cousin Bruce and after my brother was shot and Melody's subsequent temper tantrum we cut our losses."

"Still pisses me off though, and I bet we could have prevented the other ranger from being killed." Joe groused.

"Perhaps." Connely was noncommittal. Would you be interested in finishing what you started, albeit at our request, not Miss Harper's?" he continued. "Quite frankly, we don't have the man power in the area at the moment as we are dealing with a high profile case involving drug manufacturing the next county over and it is sucking up all our resources. But a murder has occurred and of a Federal employee at that so naturally my superiors and those at the Park Service are anxious to not only bring the perpetrators to justice, but to avoid any unflattering publicity."

"Umm, won't passing the buck to a couple of PIs look unflattering?" Frank commented wryly.

Mayweather chuckled. "Maybe, but we really aren't concerned with appearances. We have a lot invested in this drug case and it would be a pain in the ass to drop it or bring someone else up to speed. On the other hand, you are already involved with the situation at the Park, and my guess is, would not let something so petty as a difference of opinion get in the way of your professional pride." he looked significantly at Joe, who nodded.

"Frank, you know my feelings. I'll do it alone if necessary, but I want to finish this. And you know why. I hate leaving things undone. Plus I have a grudge against the bastard who shot me." Joe looked earnestly at his brother. "You said to let you know when I was ready to go back to the field. I'm ready. Not even a twinge any more. Tell me it doesn't irritate the shit out of you that we let ourselves be run off by Melody?!" Joe's voice left no doubt of the contemptuousness he felt at that prospect. "How many times did Collig warn us off 'his' territory and we ignored him? Or Dad?"

Frank sighed. "I know, Joe and intellectually, I agree with you. But some things are not worth the ulcers." He turned to the two Agents. "And even if we did agree, she'd block us every step of the way, just because she can. Hard to do your job effectively that way."

Mayweather snorted. "He has you there, Terry." Both agents had been on the receiving end of Melody's acerbic tongue and abrasive attitude. Connely, however, was frowning a little as he contemplated. Seemingly coming to a decision, he whipped out his cell phone and accessed his address book. "Sir. Connely here. Got a fairly detailed report from the Hardys. My earlier suggestion, have you thought about it?" the voice on the other end must have responded although none of the others could hear what was said. But Connely nodded and turned to his partner as he said "Thank you, Sir. I appreciate it. I believe we can report some progress upon our return." and with that cryptic comment, the Special Agent hung up.

He stood up, causing the others to follow suit. "Gentlemen. I appreciate your candor, and the thoroughness of your report. I'd still like to turn this over to you to finish, and to that end I have asked my Boss to put a little pressure on Miss Harper's Boss. If Miss Harper is removed from the equation, would you be willing to continue?"

"Wait, you mean like get her fired?" Joe exclaimed. "Not sure I'd be willing to go _that_ far." even Frank looked uneasy at the prospect.

"No, not at all, actually on paper she's damn good at her job. But it has not gone unnoticed that her people skills are , shall we say, lacking." Connely hastened to assure the brothers. "Merely reassigned elsewhere for the time being, or failing that, told in no uncertain terms that she is not in charge."

"But she knows that area better than anyone else and whoever ends up working the case will need her expertise." Frank logically pointed out.

"Yes, I happen to agree with that assessment, Mr Hardy." Connely smoothly said. "And after meeting with you two, I think you are the _only_ ones who can not only handle the case, but also deal with Miss Harper." he continued blandly.

"Somehow I am not sure that's a compliment Special Agent Connely." Joe wryly commented. Mayweather had to stifle a laugh, which was quickly converted into a cough.

Connely's own grin was quickly hidden beneath a mask of cool professionalism. "Gentlemen. Thank you again for your cooperation. We'll be in touch." and with a final round of hand shaking, the two FBI agents went on their way, leaving the two brothers to stare bemusedly at one another.

"Frank?" Joe asked bewildered. "What was that all about?!"

"Little Brother, I think we just actually got treated with professional respect by a couple of FBI Agents." Frank sounded as if he didn't quite believe what he was saying.

"Wow. Think Dad'd believe us if we told him?"

"Dunno." Frank shrugged. "Lunch? I feel a need for a paper bag full of french fries."

Joe was up for that and so they made a quick trip to the local Five Guys. They discussed their options over burgers and the aforementioned fries, bag split open and liberally doused with vinegar. "So, uhh if Melody is neutralized, would you be okay with going back there?" Joe asked around a mouthful of bacon cheeseburger.

Frank took his own large mouthful of burger and chewed slowly as he organized his answer. "I will admit to being mildly irked that we got unceremoniously fired especially since she wasn't the one who hired us in the first place. And yes, it bugs me that somebody died and that we _might_ have been able to prevent it. But Joe, we'd still be going in there blind, and no matter what kind of orders she gets, you know damn well Melody is going to resent us being there." he pointed out. "And let's not forget the fact that you got hurt and she didn't even seem to give a damn. Pretty unprofessional of her." Frank was not about to let her off the hook.

"Technically, Frank, we quit. Or rather you took us off the case." Joe pointed out. "And yes I could have pushed the issue but I didn't cuz like you I didn't want to deal with it, or her. But then my competitive nature reared its' ugly head. I hate leaving something unfinished, Frank."

"Except homework. I seem to recall you never had issues with leaving homework unfinished." Frank teased.

"Pbbtht." Joe responded very maturely. "All I am saying is, if they call us back and ask us to return to the case, think about it before turning them down, okay?"

"I'll think about it." Frank replied.

"Thanks, Bro." Joe cleared the table and tossed everything away before joining his brother back at the car and returning to the office. They each went their separate ways into their offices and put the somewhat strange encounter with the two FBI agents in the background as they returned to work.

******A/n: **_Mmmm Cincinnati chili. I am partial to Skyline although a few cousins insist on Goldstar. I make it from scratch, too. in fact we are having leftovers on hot dogs tonight for dinner( we err, uhh ran out of spaghetti...) If you have never had it, you are missing out. _


	7. Chapter 7

**A/n:** _slightly on the short side, but it is just a lull until they get back to work. __  
_

**Chapter Seven**

The next three days the boys went about their business; meetings, stakeouts, lots and lots of paperwork. Joe made it a point to keep in touch with Bruce, he genuinely liked the guy, and not just because he had saved his life. His calls were often just guy talk and if Bruce made any mention of the situation in the Park, fine. He never brought up the subject himself, although he did duly pass along the seemingly offhand comment that Melody had expressed regret about how things ended between herself and Halloran. Halloran's face fell when she heard the news but remained steadfast in her commitment. Melody would have to make the first move. Joe felt bad for her, knowing that she had effectively cut herself off from what was left of her past with that assertion. He made it a point to encourage her to spend time with the various lady friends and spouses of the guys he grew up with so she wouldn't feel too lonely.

Frank waited as well, but with far more reservations and a selfish hope that the FBI would not call back. It wasn't that he was morally opposed to finishing what they had started, but some teeny tiny part of him felt vindicated that he had been proven correct. Of course he would agree to help if the call did come, there were both personal and professional reputations at stake here. But when he had quizzed his father on the subject, he had found out that even Fenton had turned down clients due to personality conflicts once or twice. "There's no shame in admitting you cannot work with or for someone, Son." Fenton had assured his eldest. "Of course, I also went that extra bit and referred them to one of my colleagues." Frank had accepted that information and chewed on it for a while.

The door bell rang, jolting Halloran out of the light doze she was enjoying on the couch. When she hastened to answer it, she was mildly surprised to see Frank there. "Frank!" she exclaimed as she swung to door wider to let him in. "What brings you here at this hour?"

"Sorry, Hall, I hope I didn't disturb you. Is my wayward brother still awake?" Frank apologized.

"Not sure, I was napping myself." She walked into the kitchen and peered out the window over the sink. "He's on the deck." She looked at him questioningly, but all he did was smile at her and head towards the back door. With a shrug, she just said. " Don't spend all night out there. I am going to bed." She headed upstairs with a good bye smile.

Frank made his way outside, silently sitting in the Adirondack style deckchair that matched the one that Joe had been lounging in. The blond brother turned his head at the sound of the door, but merely raised an eyebrow in silent question. "What're you doing out here in the dark?" Frank asked, postponing the reason he had come. Joe shrugged.

"It's a nice night. Just felt like relaxing out here. I'd offer you a beer but that was my last one" he gestured towards the empty bottle sitting on the little table between the two chairs. "But something tells me you aren't here for socializing."

"Connely called." When he heard that, Joe sat up and turned in his chair to face his brother.

"And?!" Joe asked eagerly.

"Melody has been officially suspended, with pay, until the investigation is complete. Apparently she pissed off not only the FBI, but her bosses at the Park Service as well. According to Connely, she's been told to not only stay out of the investigation going forward, she's going to have to do some serious groveling to stay on as the Lead Ranger period. She's being held directly responsible for the Trainee's death." Frank wasn't sure how to take that last bit, while he held no love for her at all, and even less respect, he wasn't convinced it was entirely accurate. Joe apparently agreed.

"Damn. That's harsh. Unless she's involved with whatever shady goings on, I doubt she's liable, not unless she completely disregarded protocol." Joe actually felt the teeniest bit sorry for the woman.

"Hmphf." Frank was noncommittal. "Anyway, Connely almost begged. It was kinda funny. I channeled my Inner Joe and led him on for a bit before accepting." Frank looked over at his brother.

Joe's grin swiftly faded. "But you still don't really want to, do you?" he surmised.

"I dunno, Joe. On the one hand I agree with you, about reputation and finishing what we started. On the other, I just don't need the aggravation." Frank sighed.

"I can do it alone, if you really have that big of an issue."

"And I hate the thought that you are willing to do that!" Frank cried, more exasperated at himself than at his brother. "We work better together, and I would never forgive myself if something happened cuz you didn't have competent back up."

A year ago, Joe would have made a smart ass comment about how that left Frank out of the running and then ducked the punch Frank would have thrown with only a little force. But that was the younger, more impudent Joe. The current version was a lot more willing to admit to sentiment and acknowledge he preferred working with Frank over any other option. He supposed Halloran was to blame, or was that credit? Either way, Joe was a lot more willing to take his big brother's feelings and thoughts into consideration, instead of his usual offhand dismissal and insistence that some people needed to lighten up. "Not that I will ever admit this in front of anyone else, but I'd rather do any case with you than alone, Bro." Okay so maybe he wasn't quite ready to leave _all_ his earlier attitudes behind...

He continued, turning slightly so that he was facing the dark haired figure who was slumped dejectedly in the other chair. " So, you said Mel's been warned off. Okay. That means we won't have to deal with her, and if she tried to horn in anyway, we would be legally within our rights to have her removed. Bruce has been saying all along he'd be willing to give us whatever help he could and even suggested Mitch and his co workers would be game." He ticked off each comment with a finger. "He knows the area almost as well as Melody does. And he has Marine training, which can come in mighty handy. Also, he appreciates my cooking." Joe said with a smirk.

Frank chuckled despite himself. "So basically you are trying to tell me I have nothing to worry about."

Joe sobered. "No. These guys, whoever they are, mean business. Shooting at me, I get, I was headed straight for them. But the teenagers? Who were just fooling around? I don't buy it.. there was a decent chance those girls would never have seen a damn thing, and even if they did, could have easily been distracted or bluffed into thinking nothing was up." Joe stood up, stretching before reaching down a hand and pulling his brother upright. "In fact, I think you should wear too." his voice was serious and his eyes, usually sparkling with repressed mischief, were sober and intense.

"Why Little Brother, is that concern?!" Frank tried to make a joke of it, which fell flat as Joe continued to look at him earnestly, not a hint of his normal exuberance to be found. Frank found himself a little unsettled at the intensity of his brother's gaze. "Joe?!" he whispered. "What is it?"

"I just..." Joe fumbled to find the right words. "Look," he finally said. " You and Hall are my life, okay? I couldn't survive losing either one of you. A few weeks ago, Hall and me, we had a conversation, about ,well, her brother dying. And I came to the realization that over the years I had been a real ass, scaring you as much as I did with all my antics. I do not ever want to put you through what she went through, and I sure as hell don't wanna experience it first hand. So if your Spidey sense still has the willies, we can call Connely back and tell him deal's off."

"Oh, Joe." Frank said, almost a sob. "If I started doing that every time my 'Spidey Sense' started having conniptions we might as well close the Agency and become librarians." He placed two strong yet slightly trembling hands on his brother's shoulders. "And we both know we'd end up bored out of our skulls in a month. No. You were right, just like you often are. And I will deny admitting that in public vehemently. As long as we put our considerable training and innate talent to use, _and_ take a few precautions, we can do this. And besides, those lowlifes tried to kill you. I take umbrage at that."

"Umbrage?!" Joe snorted. "My brother, the thesaurus." Joe brought his own hands up and pulled Frank into a quick man hug. "So, we are doing this?"

"Yeah. For all the reasons you have mentioned, and more." Frank looked fondly at his brother. "And we'll _both_ be careful, deal?"

"Deal." Joe stepped back and headed inside, Frank following. "Tomorrow morning, or do you have to make arrangements first?"

"Meet me at the office. I'll bring Sam up to speed on what to keep an eye on with our other cases. But I think we should stay someplace in town. Not the cabin."

"Yer probably right, the cabin is slightly inconvenient." Joe frowned. "I'll call Bruce and ask his opinion."

"Okay. Lodging is your assignment. "I'll get Connely to put together a brief." Frank said as he reached the front door and walked out. "Try to be at work on time ish for a change."

"And break my streak?!" Joe teased, mock affronted. "Never!" With a final grin he pushed his brother out the door and programmed the alarm after. He plodded upstairs after turning off the few lights that had been left on. Halloran was already asleep, her short hair tousled on the pillow and the covers half off the bed. He smiled tenderly and brushed his lips against her smooth cheek, barely causing her to stir. Joe quickly stripped everything but his boxers off before slipping in beside her on the huge king size bed. In minutes he was asleep, a half smile on his face as instinctively they had each moved closer to one another and cuddled.

**A/n: **_Joe's feeling both sentimental and maudlin due to his impending nuptials. He's also come to realize that despite his upbringing and chosen lifestyle, he's been really lucky to have only lost one person that he loved. and he's selfish enough to admit he doesn't want to go through it again, or to be the reason anyone else does._


	8. Chapter 8

**A/n:** _ so the lull continues. sort of._

**Chapter Eight**

Joe showed up to the office the next morning with a large duffle bag full of clothes and a big box that was wrapped with a bright red ribbon. He presented it to his brother with a flourish, despite the glower.

"You're late" Frank growled. "It's nearly 10!"

"Ah, but I have a good excuse. G'wan. Open it!" Joe showed no sign of apology.

Frank sighed dramatically and pulled the ribbon off. Inside was a bullet proof vest. "Stopped by the precinct first to grab this for you. Hope I guessed your size right." Joe grinned. Frank pulled it out of the box and laid it in front of his chest. " I think that added ten years to Mom's life span." Joe bounced away before turning his head back over his shoulder and saying, "Oh, yeah, also called Bruce. He offered the use of the Fire station as a command post and nap spot. The only hotel in town is booked solid now that the campgrounds are off limits."

Frank's only response was to ask him what he meant by that comment about Mom. "Well not that she ever tried to make us stop or anything, but you know she's always worried about all three of us, right? I figure between dad's retirement and our new fashion accessories she's just saved herself ten years worth of worry."

"You mean ten years just for you. Now if only you had thought of this before she went grey!" Frank laughed. Joe very maturely stuck his tongue out before heading toward his office.

Despite Joe's tardiness, they were on the road a little after 1 pm, Frank having brought Sam up to speed on their other cases while Joe finished up some last minute paperwork. Joe drove, allowing Frank to flip through the information Special Agent Connely had overnighted to the office and make some notes of his own. "Weird. Everything started small enough. I even can understand why anyone would assume it was vandals or kids being obnoxious." At Joe's encouragement, he continued. "First reported incident was a pair of tent campers returning from a day of hiking found their tent site had been trashed. Things were tossed around but nothing was actually damaged or been eaten, like you would have expected with a wild animal." Frank flipped through the very neatly organized report. "That happened three more times within a 10 day span, including one family with a pop up trailer that was broken into and trashed. Then about 3 or 4 days after the last one of those, was the rope ridge incident." Frank was referring to the story Bruce had told them when he first approached the boys for help. "That was the first indication that this was more than just pranks. That was a definite safety issue." Frank rifled through the papers a little more.

"But here's where I get confused. Up til that point, everything was banal, although I am not sure the bridge qualifies. But the attacks were brought against inanimate objects, with no one around. Until Becky and the girls got shot at."

'So maybe that's when they started getting nervous. The random acts of vandalism wasn't working to empty the Park." Joe mused. "Although, how much of that is stubbornness on Melody's part, or just no one thinking it was that big of a deal is anyone's guess. So they upped the ante." Joe tapped his fingers against the steering wheel in time with the rock song playing on the radio. "Those girls were the first ones to go anywhere near that copse of trees, right? It's not ordinarily accessible by Park denizens. Hall pointed it out to me and just vaguely said it was part of the Park that was not open to the public. Something about wildlife or some ultra rare flower or whatever." He neatly pulled around an idiot who was obviously paying more attention to the phone in their hand than on the road; as their inconsistent speed and inability to stay in the lane indicated. "But I really don't like those noises we heard. Is it possible to poach trees?!" He was only half joking.

Frank just shrugged. "No idea. But I think that is where we need to start. Question is, how do we do it without attracting unwanted attention?"

"Maybe we need to ask Bruce if there's another way to approach that area."

"Sounds like a plan." Frank concurred. The rest of the drive was spent with them fighting over the radio station and discussion Joe's wildly grandiose plans for a Honeymoon. "Seriously? A _cruise_?!"

"Why not?" Joe shrugged. "Unpack once, food available pretty much 24/7. Even got a drink package so I can have all the beer I want and Hall can drink those froofy umbrella drinks by the pool all day. Plus in port we can do stuff like swim with dolphins. Girls love dolphins." Joe was smugly confident. "I got a suite, too. Comes with a Butler!"

"What on earth do you need a Butler for?!" Frank scoffed.

"Dude. Do you not have a single romantic bone in your body?!" Joe was incredulous. "Champagne dinner for two on our private balcony served course by course. Rose petals scattered on the bed. Hand dipped chocolate covered strawberries for dessert. I worry about you, Bro. You need a fine woman to spoil rotten." Joe shook his head fondly at his elder sibling. The teasing went back and forth for the rest of the trip. By the time they arrived at the outskirts of Calverton, it was late afternoon. Neither man was hungry, though, so the decided to go straight to the fire station. Frank called Bruce, who said that he would meet them there.

The Fire Station was large and modern looking, with a garage large enough for two full size tricks plus a paramedic rig. The large garage doors were open, and the rigs were gleaming in the late afternoon sun as they drip dried from a recent bath. Joe neatly pulled in to a parking spot behind the building and they quickly headed inside.

"Well this is unexpected." Joe mused as they took in their surroundings.

"Meaning what?" Frank inquired.

"I dunno, I guess I figured it would be something out of an old 70's TV show." Joe shrugged, taking in the spacious and modern interior. They were standing in a large industrial kitchen, with two 8 burner stoves, a pair of stacked ovens and a walk in cooler that Frank opened up and peered into.

"Hey, looks like this is big enough to hold enough food even for you, Little Brother!" he teased.

"Or a pack of starving firefighters." The new voice caused the two Hardys to whirl around. The voice belonged to an older gentleman with white hair cut militarily short and an outstretched hand. "Chief Danson. You can call me Charlie. I assume you are Joe and Frank? Bruce said you were coming." his smile was friendly as he shook their hands. "As for any similarities to Johnny and Roy's old stomping grounds, sorry. This is a volunteer outfit. We subsidize ourselves by hosting Bingos and pancake breakfasts."

"Thanks for letting us crash here, Chief." Frank said.

"Charlie." the jovial man corrected. "Want the nickle tour?" At dual nods, he gestured for them to precede him int the next room. "The kitchen can whip up several thousand pancakes at a time. We also have chili cook offs, and the occasional barbeque. This area is our Community center. We can fit enough tables to serve about 250 meals at a time, and on Saturday nights it gets turned into a Bingo hall that holds about 300 little old ladies." He then led them into a side hallway which held numerous much smaller rooms. "These are classrooms, where we teach CPR and other lifesaving skills to the community . Feel free to commandeer any one of 'em for your use."

Charlie then led them upstairs, which was the recreational area and sleeping quarters for the crew. "Since we are volunteer, we don't have a full crew here at all times, but on any given day there are some. Usually enough to at least get one rig out immediately the call comes in; and Bruce and Eric trade off being our medics." The living room was large, and featured several comfy couches and a large screen TV. Joe noticed at least two different game systems hooked up. Off another hallway was a large bathroom/shower combo with 3 curtained shower stalls and and equal number of toilet stalls. On the door was a magnetic sign that had the words 'Female head' on it. Joe knew right away the other side would have said 'Male head' as he recognized the design from his Navy days.

"So you are co ed?" he commented with a gesture at the sign as they passed on the way to the bunk room.

"That a problem?" Charlie asked with a frown.

"Nahh, just needed to know so I don't wander around in a towel." Joe grinned. Frank slugged him on the shoulder in mock disgust before pushing past into the bunk room.

And bunk room it was. Neat rows of bunk beds stood at attention, all neatly made up. "Ahh, just like the good ole days" Joe sighed in derisive contentment. "All it needs are thread bare curtains and about 3 inches of headroom." Charlie looked at both brothers, watching Joe grin and Frank look puzzled.

"Spoken like a true Snipe" came Bruce's voice from behind them. "At least you had beds. Try living in tents. With no running water for weeks on end." his wide grin showed he was just teasing. "Thanks for coming, Guys." he continued more seriously.

"Anytime. I still owe you." Joe also replied seriously. Even Frank nodded his head, despite his earlier misgivings. They finished the tour, and then Charlie invited them downstairs for dinner. Joe of course, eagerly accepted and even Frank admitted to a few hunger pangs.

Dinner was served family style and consisted of Venison stew, scalloped potatoes and fresh asparagus basted in olive oil and Herbs du Provence. At Frank's slightly embarrassed admission that he would not have expected such a fine meal to come out of a firehouse kitchen, the other firefighters at the table laughed understandingly. "Most people expect nothing more exciting than Chili, but the truth is, most of us have perfected the art of meals that can simmer for hours or can be reheated without flavor degradation." Gloria, one of the three females on the crew said. "And before you ask, no, I can't cook. This feast was brought to you by none other than our Beloved Leader Charlie!" Frank reiterated his appreciation, while Joe just waved a hand in acknowledgement as he was too busy eating to actually speak. Dessert was simple, five different flavors of ice cream to choose from along with a variety of sundae toppings. Frank stuck with simple vanilla and hot fudge, while Joe and Bruce competed for Weirdest Sundae bragging rights. Joe's was predictably enormous; 4 scoops of ice cream, all different, hot fudge, marshmallow and strawberry toppings and crowned with half a can of Reddi Whip and crushed peanuts. But that paled in comparison with Bruce's. While it too only held 4 scoops, he scoffed at a mere 3 toppings. He added caramel and peanut butter, finishing off the can of Reddi Whip and including not only crushed peanuts but rainbow sprinkles as well. Even Joe admitted defeat with a laugh. Frank suggested they get a good night's sleep and get started early the next morning. Joe was all for a nice GTA tournament instead, but Bruce begged off, stating he wanted to get back home to Mitch. Before everyone broke for the night, Charlie apologized in advance "In case we get a call. If you aren't used to it, the alarm can scare the hell out of you."

Luckily that wasn't put to the test, since Frank woke a little after 630 to the smell of freshly brewed coffee. He slipped on a pair of jeans over his boxers and crept downstairs, where he offered to help Gloria get breakfast started. "You can prep the eggs for French toast, thanks." instead of using a griddle, though, she poured the egg mixture over bread slices layered in a baking pan. That was placed in one oven while a few pounds of bacon were arranged on a broiler pan and dumped into the second oven. Frank also noticed the ovens had an auto shut off feature and when he commented, got an embarrassed laugh. "Yeah, uhh , about 15 years ago, before this building was built, there was a call. The oven didn't get turned off and when the crew returned from the call, they had to call our neighbor village to put out the fire." She turned a lovely shade of pink. "My dad never heard the end of it." she indicated where the utensils were kept and had Frank pul out forks, knives and spoons. "So when they rebuilt, a few extra safety features were put in, like auto shut off and the Ansul system." Gloria poured two large mugs of coffee from the industrial sized pot that was set up in one corner of the kitchen's prep area. "Cream?" she asked. At Frank's negative shake, she set one down in front of him and sat in the chair opposite. There was already sugar and a bowl full of brightly colored packets of the fake stuff on the table. They sipped in companionable silence. Frank took the time to observe the firefighter closely. Her hair was about the same shade as his, and curled about her shoulders in damp waves. Her eyes were a light hazel and she seemed a bit distant or aloof, if friendly enough. She was equally appraising of him and did not blush when he caught her at it. "Like what you see?" she asked coyly.

Frank was saved from having to answer that by the arrival of several others, although Joe was not among them. "I should go get my lazy brother up. Otherwise he'd sleep through even one of your alarms!"

"Dream on. _Nobody_ sleeps through it. It can wake the dead." Jess, another of the females, assured him.

"Really?!" Frank mused, a ghost of a smile crossing his face. "I'd love to see his reaction, but I can't sit around waiting for some disaster to occur, more's the pity." Gloria laughed out loud at that, and even Jess grinned.

"Tell ya what." Gloria proposed with an evil glint in her eye. "If he's not up by a decent hour, I'll mention to Charlie that the system hasn't been randomly tested in a while..."

Frank couldn't help it, he grinned wickedly back at the two ladies. "You do that and I'll cook dinner tonight!" Jess was agreeable, but Gloria just narrowed her eyes.

"Can you cook?!"

"I had a Spinster Aunt who lived with us almost my whole life." at that Jess nodded knowingly and even Gloria appeared mollified.

"Nothing spicy. Contrary to popular myth, your average Emergency Services technician doesn't do spicy." she warned him.

"No spicy. Got it." Frank promised. "You okay with mac and cheese?"

"As long as it doesn't come out of a blue box or the microwave, yeah." Gloria warned.

"In my house, growing up, the microwave was used solely to melt butter and reheat pizza at 8 am. If Aunt Gertrude had had her way, we would not have been had one." Frank assured the two ladies.

As the morning progressed, more of the firefighters that had spent the night appeared, and a few new ones arrived including Bruce returning, dragging Mitch along with him. Joe was nowhere to be found. By the time Gloria had cornered Charlie and pitched her evil plan, everyone was eager to get in on the practical joke. Frank had about ten seconds worth of guilt before realizing this was the perfect way to get his younger brother back for about 15 years worth of practical jokes at his expense. "Just have the defibrillator ready, just in case. I kinda need him to solve the case." Frank joked. Bruce grinned and hefted the portable machine in silent agreement.

"Ready?" Charlie asked with a face splitting grin. Frank closed his eyes for a moment, giving himself one last chance to back down. But in the end he couldn't help himself. (_If he gets pissed off, I can always tell him it was his idea that I lighten up_.) he justified it as he gave the go ahead nod to the Chief. Every quietly crept upstairs although whispered giggles were prevalent. Gloria tucked her arm into Frank's as she led him to the best vantage point to watch the festivities. Her hair smelled vaguely of lavender. As soon as everyone had settled, Charlie slipped back downstairs. Frank barely heard the man's voice as he spoke into the radio. Gloria leaned in and whispered "He's letting the rest of the guys know this is just a test and they don't need to rush to the station. We all have radios. Makes it easier to decide where to head. Some times an individual is closer to the call than the station."

"What about your gear?" Frank whispered back.

"We all keep a spare set of Turnout gear in our trunks. And the trucks carry extra tanks." she replied. And then she snuggled up against him. Frank decided he didn't mind. He leaned in closer, ready to ask some other trivial question when the quiet was shattered by an ear splitting klaxon that had him jumping three feet in to the air. He was so caught off guard he nearly missed the sight of his brother falling from the upper bunk into an undignified heap on the floor.

**A/n:** _ I'm not saying I know any firefighters who may or may not have pulled this prank on anyone, but...*grinz*_


	9. Chapter 9

**A/n: **_My deepest apologies to all of you for the delay. when I saw that I had slipped to the second page I panicked! This chapter kind of got away from me, and I ended up scrapping three or four ideas in favor of doing it this way. But I think this was the best way to go about it, with each brother having the spotlight._

**Chapter Nine**

"_**Really**_ Frank?!" Joe groused. It was several hours later and while Joe had laughed along with everyone else at the time, he was sulking now. Other than landing rather hard on one ankle, he had been uninjured. Luckily he had opted to slip into gym shorts rather than remain in his usual boxers before turning on for the night. Otherwise he may have displayed more than his impressive physique to the observers. Frank tried unsuccessfully to present an innocent face, or even an apologetic one, but he ultimately failed. He was enjoying his sweet revenge.

"Hey, you were the one that is always telling me to lighten up." he pointed out. "So I took your advice."

"_**Really**_ Frank? Of all the pearls of wisdom I have dispensed over the years _this _ is the one you choose to finally implement?" Joe scrunched down in his seat and sulked a little more. They were in Mitch's SUV, heading towards an area Bruce was pretty sure could lead them to the 'danger zone' as Joe had christened it. After the festivities broke up, and Charlie had laughingly apologized to Joe for waking him up, they had all trooped downstairs to have oven baked french toast for breakfast. When the boys were shooed out of the kitchen despite their offering to help clean up, they retired to one of the conference rooms and began a strategy session with Bruce and Mitch. They had spent a long time poring over maps of the Park and the surrounding area, and getting input from the firefighters. Neither man was shy about asking for their take on the goings on. A few of the suggestion were pretty outlandish, but a couple had merit. Frank and Joe had decided to split up, each taking along a local to help navigate and break the ice when questioning the townspeople. Bruce immediately offered his services and Joe agreed with alacrity. Mitch just shrugged , looked and Frank and said "Guess you are stuck with me then." to which Frank replied. "Just count yourself lucky you didn't get stuck with that Joker" jerking a thumb at his younger brother , who had overheard and glared back.

Now they were on their way to a part of the Park that neither brother had been to before. Bruce was explaining that the area they were heading to was part of the old logging industry that fell into oblivion after a blight devastated the timber decades ago. "There's an old sawmill still, but it hasn't been used in over 30 years" Bruce began, with Mitch picking up the narration next.

"Yeah, and it's probably falling apart." he chimed in. "And there were a few shacks for the overseer and Lumberjack Boss."

"So who wants to do what?" Joe asked.

"I'll take the sawmill and poke around. You head back to town and start asking questions." Frank suggested. Joe shrugged and turned his face toward the window, chin in his hand. The rest of the drive was mostly silent, with the few attempts at conversation falling flat. So it was with a silent sigh of relief Mitch pulled over and joined Frank in heading towards the sawmill. Bruce said goodbye with a very chaste peck on the lips and a quick hug before taking over the driver's side.

Joe had also gotten out, and was going over a few things with Frank, but when it came time to go their separate ways, all his did was say "I'll see you back at the ranch" before slipping into the front passenger side. Bruce looked at him sideways for a good ten minutes before finally breaking the silence.

"Dude? You still mad?" he asked cautiously.

Joe started, he had been lost in his own thoughts. "Nahh, not really. It's nice to know Frank can partake of the more childish aspects of life at times. But I wouldn't be me if I didn't let him twist in the wind a while." he grinned a little evilly. "I'll sulk just long enough for him to start feeling bad, then I will 'forgive' him."

"Dude, that's just mean!" Bruce laughed.

"What, don't you have any siblings?"

"Not a one. And I wonder if I got off lucky." he exclaimed with a sideways grin.

"You have no idea what you are missing, my Friend." Joe rebuked. He spent the next half hour talking about growing up with Frank and by the time they arrived in town to begin their interrogations, Bruce was feeling rather sorry for himself being an only child.

"Where ya wanna start?" Bruce asked as they reached the outskirts of Calverton.

"The hotel. Get a feel for who's been staying in town and what they are up to." Joe replied, so Bruce took the side road that led to the single hotel in town.

It was more of a bed 'n breakfast though, since it was located in an old mansion that Bruce had said belonged to one of the Timber Barons. "Mrs Rutherford is a descendent. House has been in the family for generations but when the economy tanked, her parents turned it into a BnB rather than lose the Homestead." Bruce said as he pulled into the driveway. The old mansion was impressive, if a bit shabby. The grounds were well kept and everything was in good repair despite needing a fresh coat of paint. The porch wrapped around at least three sides, and was scattered with chairs, loungers and a few swings, all covered in cheery throw pillows.

They were met at the door by Mrs Rutherford herself, a short, slightly plump woman with grey hair neatly secured in a bun, grey eyes that sparkled merrily and a grey sweater that somehow failed to make her look dull and boring despite its' relative shapelessness. Her face was covered in laugh lines, not wrinkles and she beamed at the sight of two handsome strapping young men at her door. "Why Bruce, you naughty boy! Does Mitch know you are seeing another man?!" she laughed merrily as Joe's face turned slightly pink.

"Shhh, Aunt Carole" Bruce whispered conspiratorially. "We're trying to be discreet." He winked at Joe as they were ushered into the parlor. It too was cheery in a slightly worn way with Victorian era furniture mixed in with more contemporary styles arranged in such a manner that small groups could sit together while still being a part of any larger gathering. The fireplace took up one entire wall although currently it was filled with a large wicker basket of freshly cut flowers instead of logs.

"_Et Tu_, Bruce?" Joe mumbled sourly, causing the Paramedic to bust a gut laughing. "Is there anybody in this crazy town that _isn't_ related to everybody else?!" he continued in a grumble. Mrs. Rutherford, who has left the men momentarily, returned with a serving tray covered with a pitcher of lemonade, three tall glasses and a plate of tiny sandwiches. She placed it on the table between them before sitting down and turning an expectant face towards Bruce.

"Joe, this is Aunt Carole. She's not my aunt, nor anyone else's for that matter but everyone calls her that anyway. Aunt Carole, this is Joe Hardy. Remember Hallie from when me an' Mel were kids? Joe here is engaged to her." Bruce explained. Carole perked up at this and impossibly, smiled even wider.

"Oh how wonderful! That poor girl has had so much tragedy in her life, she deserves a little happiness!" she gushed, only to be be cut off by Joe before she could continue.

"Yes, Ma'am she does, but that's not what I am here for. You see, I'm a Private Investigator and I've been hired to look into the incidents at the Park. I was hoping I could ask you a few questions and you could help me out?" he smiled at her at once both polite and charming. As usual, she was completely won over by the charismatic blond and readily agreed to do whatever she could.

Joe began his interrogation, and Bruce sat by in awe at the expert way his friend found to entice seemingly random bits of information from the older woman. He began by asking Carole about her most recent guests, and focusing on the ones that were new and not old regulars for many years. "Well I am sure that none of them could be responsible, why they are so nice and polite!" she insisted.

"Then the sooner I can rule them out as suspects, the better, right?" Joe smiled at her, nothing in his face or tone of voice indicating anything but total agreement with the woman's assessment. He pulled out his little notebook and began taking notes on each guest as Mrs. Rutherford discussed them in turn.

By the end of the hour and a half Mrs Rutherford had droned on, Joe had pretty good physical descriptions as well as insight as to the personalities. He had to admit, he was impressed by the sharp observations made by the older woman. She may have seemed a little flighty upon initial observation, but behind that scatterbrained facade there was a sharp mind who noticed a lot. (_Aunt Gertrude would have called her a nosy neighbor_) Joe thought to himself with an internal smile. Despite the urgency of his task, he found it very hard to tear himself away from the motherly woman, or her excellent tuna salad sandwiches. He polished off at least 3 and the pitcher of lemonade had to be refilled twice. But eventually he couldn't put it off any longer, he still had other places to hit. With a smile that held a tinge of regret, he stood up and thanked Aunt Carole for her help.

"Any time, my Dear." she beamed at both of them as she walked them to the front door. "I am just glad I was able to help. It's such a tragedy, that young man dying." she sniffed a little. Bruce gave her a quick hug and a peck on the cheek, and Joe shook her hand as they took their leave.

"Did that help, really?" Bruce asked as they made their way back to the car.

"Actually, yeah, it did. It's just too bad they all pay with cash. Otherwise I could do a little digging. I'll pass the names on to Sam, but I bet they are all aliases. Which means we won't get much from that angle." he waved a hand imperiously toward the street. "Jeeves, the Diner, and step on on it my good man."

Bruce looked askance at him. "Dude you seriously cannot be hungry?!"

Joe laughed. "I am always hungry, but no that's not why we are going there. Need to question the staff, see if there is any more info we can scrounge up. Like maybe an overheard conversation..." he grinned mischievously. " Although I will order a piece of apple pie and leave a hefty tip. All in the name of gathering Intel. Of course."

"Of course." Bruce drawled with a knowing smirk. The drive from the BnB to the Diner was less than five minutes. It was deserted, the only car in the parking lot was Bruce's.

"Good. Don't have to worry about running into a suspect and they won't be busy so I can ask away." Joe said in satisfaction as he pulled open the door, causing the little bell to jingle and Bernice to come out from the kitchen. She smiled at the familiar faces and readily agreed to sit down and take a short break with them after she brought over their pies. She was as good a source of information as Aunt Carole had been, with even more insight.

Bernice plopped down next to Bruce, a carafe of coffee on the table that she topped off all three mugs with as Joe alternated big bites of pie with questions. Bernice was eager to talk about the recent influx of strangers and had plenty of opinions. Unlike Aunt Carole, though, she was convinced they were up to no good. When Bruce asked her why she thought that, she snorted derisively.

"You can't tell me you don't think there ain't no coincidence, now?!" she sneered. Bruce had the grace to look abashed, while Joe grinned around a fork full of pie. He swallowed before resuming the questions.

"Go on. I want to hear your theories." Joe said seriously. He finished the pie and sat back in the booth, holding the coffee close and taking occasional sips. He let Bernice ramble, occasionally jotting down some of the things she spoke of that piqued his interest. He'd collate these and the notes he took at Aunt Carole's later on , back at the fire house.

"You kin tell a lot about a person by what they order, and how they tip." Bernice spoke matter of factly. She settled back in the booth herself, and poured herself another cup of coffee. "The one guy, in the suit? Well, he's terribly polite, the ideal customer, never makes unreasonable demands, always asks my opinion on the specials, stacks the plates neatly, leaves his glass near the edge so I don't have to reach over to fill it. But he always leaves a hundred dollar bill." she sounded outraged, which confused Bruce.

Joe offered an explanation. "Means he's arrogant, and thinks he's better than any of the townspeople." Bernice nodded, vindicated. "People like that think they can buy their way outta any trouble, or prey on the less fortunate. "I still got all them bills, too. If he tries any crap I'll just give 'em all right back." She sounded oddly defiant and proud. Joe leaned forward eagerly.

"I don't suppose I could borrow one?!" he excitedly requested.

"Wat fer?" Bernice asked.

"Fingerprints, my fair lady. Fingerprints!" Joe positively chortled in glee. "Oh and I'll need to get yours, too, just so we can tell yours from his." he quickly ran out into the car, grabbed his backpack with, handily enough, Frank's fingerprinting kit, and returned. Bernice was more than happy to swap out one of the c notes with five twenties from Joe's wallet and was giddy at the prospect of being fingerprinted. As Joe inked up her fingers and transferred the prints to a sheet, he continued to ask her questions, although he had Bruce take over note taking duty while he worked.

"The other two, they always come in together. And they always sit in the booth furthest away from anybody else. Always stop talking when anybody comes near 'em, too. Positively glares daggers iffin I try and do my job and refill cups or anything." Bernice huffed in annoyance. "And they stiff me every single time, too. In fact sometimes they don't even leave enough to cover the bill!"

Bruce looked over at Joe, who nodded. "Different kind of arrogance. And they'd start a big fight if anyone called 'em on it." He looked over at Bernice, who was still fuming. "Let me guess, big, burly types; scary looking. No one wants to start something because they just exude meanness. Am I right?"

Bernice nodded, casting a quick glance at the kitchen. "Old Wilbur, he's a great cook, but no way could he take on those brutes. And even if some of the other customers would back him up, It wouldn't do no good. They both got guns." she swallowed nervously and leaned forward, and both men followed suit. "I seen 'em. Big pistols, bigger 'n the Sheriff's."

"Bernice, I want you to promise me something, okay?" Joe spoke in a serious tone. "If these guys even act like they are thinking about starting trouble, I want you to get everybody out immediately. But don't start treating them any different, they will notice and think something's up."

"You think they are the ones that shot that poor Ranger, don't you?" Suddenly Bernice was a little less confident.

"And me." he smiled at her gasp of astonishment. "There ain't no such thing as coincidence." he reminded her. "I have spent enough time in this town to know that this is a nice place, and Halloran loves it here. I am going to do everything I can to make sure it stays that way." Joe reached in to his wallet again and peeled off several more bills, tossing them lightly on the table. "Thanks for the information. If we can get an ID off that hundred, we'll be sitting pretty." Joe smiled at Bernice in thanks as he stood up. Bernice hastily slid out, allowing Bruce to exit the booth as well. With final waves goodbye, the two men headed out into the parking lot.

"Now what, Sherlock?' Bruce queried.

"Do I look like I play the violin? Or smoke a meerschaum?" Joe snarked. "And I sure as hell don't do drugs." he finished with a snort. "Besides, _Watson_, I can't fake an English accent to save my life. In fact, this one time when I tried, it backfired spectacularly..." Joe grinned as he slid into the front passenger side. "Actually, back to the station, if you please. I got some good intel and I'd like to run it past the logical brother."

"If Frank's the logical one, what does that make you?"

"The funny, charismatic handsome one, of course. " Joe smirked. Bruce chuckled and swung out into the street and began the short drive back to the station. Joe began glancing through his notes along the way, occasionally swearing at his illegible handwriting. "I hate to admit it, but maybe Frank is right. I either need to start taking voice notes, or typing them. I just hate these tiny keyboards." he groused as he waved his smartphone in derision. "Oh well, he always could translate my chicken scratches, I'll just let him read everything."

They beat Mitch and Frank back to the station, even with a side trip to the post office to overnight the evidence bag with the hundred dollar bill in it. Joe had called Sam to warn him it was coming. "The set of prints in the envelope are the waitress's, so that helps you narrow down which ones to ignore when you sweet talk Greg into running them for you." Sam laughed a little ruefully but promised to do what he could. "If Connely calls or whatever, let him know what we have so far." Joe requested. Sam agreed and with a final goodbye, hung up.

Joe started laying everything out he had collected that day, waiting for his brother's return. He had sent a quick text to Frank, letting him know he was back, but was not that surprised when he got the notice that the message was undeliverable. One drawback of the area.. no service to speak of. He wandered out into the kitchen, where he made a fresh pot of coffee his way and snuck a few cookies out of the large cookie jar on the counter. "Mmm, Snickerdoodles. Frank's favorite." he commented idly to Gloria, who was at the table going over some textbook that was covered with anatomical drawings. "Whatcha reading?" he asked

"Anatomy and Physiology" was the reply.

"Sounds icky." he smiled with a delicate shudder.

"Kinda sorta need it if I want to be a Nurse, though." she replied archly.

"So this EMT thing is just a stepping stone then?" he sat down across from her after grabbing a few more cookies.

"Pretty much. But this doesn't pay the bills." she leaned back with a little stretch. "Luckily I am combining my GI Bill with a scholarship so I can hopefully finish my BSN in three years instead of 4."

"Then what, going back in as an Officer?" Joe thought she looked the type, self assured, self confident, definitely had some leadership qualities as well.

"Nah. I prefer a few less trauma patients. Was thinking of focusing on something not quite so gory. Maybe Oncology."

"Oh there's a cheery thought. Cancer is so benign." he teased her, and she responded by groaning at the combined pun and double entendre.

"Were you a Corpsman like Bruce?" he asked around a mouthful of cookie.

"Nope. Air force. Computer Forensics actually."

"Oh gawd, another Geek." he laughed at her. "You and Frank should get together. He talks programming code in his sleep."

"Really?!" Gloria perked up at the information before settling back with a small smile that danced around her eyes. "Is that a fact?!" Joe swore the smile got a little more satisfied.

"My second girlfriend was a computer nerd too. She and Frank would put their heads together, along with our friend Phil, during a case, and I'd be left in the dust. I can barely get my email to work properly most days." his laugh was self depreciating. He knew his strengths lay in other areas, and he was content to let Frank have his. They were still in the middle of small talk when the ear splitting klaxon that heralded a fire call interrupted them. Charlie rushed out of the den where he had been reading the newspaper and hurried into the small alcove where the dispatch radio was housed. He acknowledged the call and requested the address. Through the glass, Joe saw the man blanch and then look directly at him. A feeling of dread settled into his stomach. He stood up but never moved, letting the other firefighters rush around him getting their gear.

Charlie barked something into the radio, then came out and approached Joe. "It's the old Sawmill. There was a massive explosion. Half a dozen people saw the fireball and called it in."

Joe gasped. "That's where Frank was going!"

**A/n: ** _Yeap, this time Frank is the one who gets whalloped. See, I pick on both boys equally. Next chapter is from Franks POV.. at least..until the explosion...bwhahahahah. _


	10. Chapter 10

**A/n: **_yeah, uhhh.. I expect hate mail at the end of this chapter...__  
_

**Chapter Ten**

Frank stood there with Mitch, watching his brother and Bruce drive away. He gave a little sigh as he hitched the backpack further along his shoulders in an attempt to get comfortable. After a moment, he shook his head ruefully, chuckled quietly, and turned to his guide. "I'm all yours. Take the lead." he gestured vaguely with one hand towards the path that was so overgrown you could hardy see it. Mitch gave him a veiled look, but then shrugged his own shoulders and started down the path. After a few minutes silent walking, though, he looked back over his shoulder and it appeared as if he was trying to decide whether or not to speak.

"Ummm.." Mitch began, hesitantly.

"Something on your mind, Mitch?" Frank asked.

"Look, maybe it's none of my business, but, I just can't help but notice. Earlier today, with the Alarm.. did you cross a line?" He asked.

"Crossed a line? In what way?"" Frank was confused. "Charlie was all for it."

"Not to hear Joe talk about it. All he did was gripe."

"Ahh. That." Frank understood now. "Quite the opposite. I'd be more worried if he _wasn't_ grousing." He smiled before continuing. "Joe's the kind of guy that the more he complains, the less things are bothering him. If he were very quiet, or withdrawn, then I'd know I went too far and really hurt him. The exact opposite of me, in fact. I tend to let the little things slide, but when I am really upset or mad, the whole world knows it. Drove our parents crazy until they figured out we are polar opposite personalities. They got spoiled with me being first born. I was the perfect baby. Never any trouble at all, hardly got sick, amused myself, that sort of thing. Then Joe came along and tossed everything they were used to on its' ear." Frank smirked with a touch of smugness. "I let him think he's pulling one over on me. Later this evening, he'll make a big show of still being upset, I'll make a big show about apologizing, he'll magnanimously forgive me in front of everybody. All for the benefit of the spectators."

Mitch stopped in the middle of the path and just gaped at him. Then he shook his head in half wonder, half disbelief and commented "And I thought _my _ family dynamic was whacked out." Frank laughed at the comment but said nothing more. For a while, the two men walked in silence, concentrating on the overgrown path. Occasionally Mitch, still in the lead, would point out a hazard such as a half buried tree root, and once, a very irate snake who was not happy about being interrupted in the middle of swallowing a mouse. They had to wait for the snake to finish and slither away before continuing on.

Once they resumed, Frank started asking question about the Sawmill and logging industry, and what had happened to end it. "Way before my time, of course, and I am sure that half of what has been told over the years has been exaggerated, or mistaken. Calverton was founded by Josiah Calvert, around the same time the Railroads were being built. Needed good hardwood for the rails, and Josiah had owned nearly all the surrounding land. Lots of trees, he wanted to found his own settlement, so it was a win win.. he chopped everything down, sold half to the Rockefellers and the other half he used to built the town. He was a little reckless though, and caused a lot of consternation among all the conservationists of the day. I couldn't tell you how the blight started. Some swear it was God's wrath, other will insist it was sabotage. For all I know it was just one of those things, you know?" Mitch stopped to carefully pick his way over a fallen tree, reaching back to assist Frank. "Anyway, trees started dying left and right, rotting from the inside. Calvert was told to accept the loss, and burn what was left to wipe out the disease. He refused and for another 5 years or so, it spread. He kept the sawmill running and would pass off the wood as disease free, and when he couldn't get away with that any longer, started selling it to corrupt contractors."

"Mob contractors?" Frank guessed.

"Probably. One year, some apartment building or something collapsed only a couple of years after being built. The investigation brought all the dirty laundry to light. Calvert was disgraced, and forced into bankruptcy with all the fines and lawsuits against him. The mob of course slithered into the underground and he was left to hang all by his lonesome. After Calvert died, his family slunk away as well. Ever since then, the entire place has been left alone. The old Calvert Mansion was turned into the City Hall. The Government took control of most of the outlying land, and turned it into a National Park. The sawmill was condemned but nobody bothered to demolish it or anything. The rest of the townspeople politely pretended it never happened and concentrated on being one of those small quaint towns where hardly anyone ever leaves to find their fortune. Hell I can count on one hand the number of my school mates who left for college or the military and never came back."

"So Bruce is the norm, not the exception?" Frank queried.

Mitch blushed. "Actually, no. I think he would have gone career, or at least settled in San Diego where he was stationed. If it weren't for us being together."

"You didn't want to leave?" Frank knew how he felt. Despite them having every opportunity to move to New York or any other big city, and still be successful Detectives, Joe and he had never seriously considered leaving Bayport.

"Not really. Of course I have some family obligations that keep me here, my dad died when I was a senior in high school, I have 4 little sisters, all of whom needed braces and shoes, and a mother whose job skills were limited to housekeeping. She makes enough to keep the house and car, but its the other stuff that gets ya. So I went to school semi locally, got a decent job at City Hall keeping the computers from crashing and Bruce and I live next door to make sure the lawn gets mowed, the driveway gets shoveled and the horny teenaged boys don't corrupt my sisters." Mitch stopped, and stretched, twisting his shoulders to work out a few kinks. "But really, I just like it here. Sure it's kinda slow, and a bit like Mayberry, but that's the charm. Once a year or so Bruce and I take off for a couple weeks to someplace exotic to stretch our legs, as it were. But we always come back. I think I'll stay here even after the girls go off to college or whatever."

"Good on you." Frank approved. "Me 'n Joe are the same. Bayport is home. We get plenty of business that comes to us, so there's no real need to go anywhere else. We have easy access to the big city if we need it. But we don't miss out by living where we do, either." Frank took the time for a little stretch of his own. When he asked how close they were to the sawmill, Mitch shrugged and indicated it was probably another half hour walk or so.

The path, while still overgrown, began to show some signs of having been recently trod. Frank took the lead then, pulling out his gun silently. "Stay close. All I want to do is have a look around. I sure as hell don't want to run into anyone." Mitch nodded, solemn and a bit nervous. They continued forward, but far more cautiously and a lot more quietly. They were almost to the spot where the path opened out into the clearing that held the sawmill, which could be seen in the distance by now, when the sharp crack of a branch being broken directly behind them caused Frank to whip around, gun raised in a defensive stance. Mitch was taking no chances and he dove off to the side. But nothing could prepare Frank for the sight before him.

"What the hell are _you_ doing here?!" he hissed in a low voice, venom practically spitting out of his mouth.

"What do you think?!" Melody's voice was equally venomous and low pitched. Mitch stayed where he was, crouched on the ground, eyes flicking between the two rapidly in a parody of the typical tennis match. Before things could come to blows, he stood up and placed a firm hand against two heaving chests.

"Settle down, the both of you!" he whispered harshly. "Or do you _want_ to be discovered?!"

Frank recovered faster, logic as always prevailing. Melody was still nursing a grudge so was slower to accept the necessity of quiet. Mitch quickly scanned the area and half shoved the two near combatants into a small clearing just off the path but still hidden from any prying eyes that may be at the sawmill. He roughly grabbed Melody's arm and shoved her down to her knees. Frank knelt, facing Melody with a glare. "You shouldn't be here!"

"Oh please!" she spat in contempt. "If it was you in my position, what would _you _ have done?!" Her eyes blazed in anger, and then gave way to a triumphant gleam as she saw in Frank's eyes the truth. He would have done the exact same thing as she had. Gone after the bad guys himself, regardless of the consequences. He flushed under her gaze, knowing she had pegged him good. (_Dammit. She's right. But does she have to be such a bitch at the same time?!_) Frank mentally shook himself out of the dark place his thoughts were taking him.

"You don't know how dangerous it is..." he began only to be cut off peremptorily.

"Do you think I give a damn about that?!" She spat. "Or that you would if you were in my shoes?"

Frank bit off the retort he was itching to say. But he reluctantly had to admit he had no leg to stand on, and if Joe were here he'd be agreeing with Melody even as he was telling her off for getting in the way. Sighing deeply, he rocked back on his heels and ran a hand through his dark brown hair in resignation.

"Fine." he finally ground out through clenched teeth. "But since you are not here under any official authority, you will do as I say, understood?!" His tone brooked no arguments. "If you push me, I will hog tie you myself." Despite her anger, Melody blanched, as she could tell he was deadly serious. She nodded once in acquiescence. Neither noticed Mitch's exaggerated sigh of relief and release of tension. They took another few moments to reorganize thoughts, and Frank tightly asked Melody what she had seen and learned so far.

"There's three of them" she began in a low voice. "One comes and goes every few days, the other two are there pretty much full time. They leave together when they leave at all, but are only gone a few hours."

"Any idea what they are up to?" Frank asked.

She shook her head. "No clue. But a few times I have seen them come out wearing surgical masks."

"Are they there now?" Mitch queried.

"Yes. The suit was last here yesterday, which means, if the pattern continues, he'll be back tomorrow. The other two will probably leave this afternoon, be gone about 3 hours and then return."

"Can we see them leave from here?" Frank continued his questions.

Melody nodded. "I have a campsite just a few hundred yards from here. Been watching them the whole time." Frank decided to have Melody lead them to her current hideout and they quickly made their way to another small clearing. She had a small 2 person tent and a variety of foodstuffs that did not require a fire. "Sorry, can't offer coffee. Aside from the fact that I didn't want to give myself away with a fire, the fire ban is still in effect." She had calmed down somewhat and reverted to her Park Ranger persona. She did, however, offer bottles of water from her backpack.

As the three of them sat around sipping, Frank got down to business. "Did you ever go into the Mill after they left, even for a minute?" he interrogated Melody.

Melody shook her head. "Wasn't sure there was a pattern until I watched them for the last 4 days." She paused, considered, then spoke again, a challenge in her voice. "I was going to do that this afternoon when they left, if you must know."

"I suggest we continue with that plan. Mitch, if you wanna go, you can. There's no real reason for you to lead me around any more, and it is probably going to be dangerous." Frank offered.

Mitch shook his head. "If it's all the same to you, I'll wait until you get back. That way any information you gather , you can give it to me, and I can pass it along when I return. That way you won't have to worry about getting a cell signal." Frank hid his surprise at that insight and agreed that was a good idea.

It was less than an hour later when Melody announced she had seen the two suspects leaving the sawmill. Frank grabbed the binoculars out of her hand and looked for himself, taking a good look at each before jotting down descriptions on a notepad. All three kept still and quiet as the two men stomped their way past, only yards away along the path. Frank strained, but could not make out their low voiced conversation. He sighed in resignation, but forced himself to wait 15 minutes after they left before making his own move.

"Mitch, I won't be gone long, no more than an hour. But if I don't come out by then, do _not_ wait around. I want you to get back to the firehouse as fast as you can and bring Joe up to speed. There's no telling what I'll run into in there."

"What _**we'll**_ run into." Melody growled. There was no way she was going to be left behind, and despite his reluctance, Frank knew it was safer if he did have backup; he just wished it was his brother, or Sam, and not this cocky Ranger with a chip on her shoulder the size of a two by four. He glared at her a minute longer before nodding once and offering a hand to lift melody to her feet.

"Be careful. I can barely do CPR." Mitch joked lamely as he watched them get ready to leave. Frank still had his revolver, and Melody produced her rifle.

Frank shook Mitch's hand. "Remember, one hour and you make a run for it. Just don't get caught by the bad guys." Mitch nodded before giving Melody a significant look, as if silently telling her to play nice for a change.

Melody and Frank started out, Frank in the lead but Melody close behind. It was maybe 5 minutes before they got to the door the two suspects had left from. Mitch watched as Frank jimmied the lock and eased the door open slowly. Frank slipped in and a second later, Melody followed. And for 45 minutes, Mitch alternated between pacing nervously back and forth, glancing at his watch, and jumping at every little sound, convinced that the suspects were going to return any second. He was peering intently through the binoculars, facing the sawmill, when it exploded into a huge fireball that threw debris everywhere. The concussion threw Mitch the ground and he lay there, dazed and choking on the smoke, oblivious the the expanding flames which were eagerly attacking the dry grasses and woods surrounding the clearing. Within seconds, the fire was out of control and had expanded beyond the sawmill's immediate vicinity.

**A/n: **_ So, you have to admit that this is entirely in Melody's character, and that the boys would be hypocritical if they tried to stop her. As for what Mel and Frank saw inside, well, sorry you'll have to wait and see. No I am not killing off Frank. I make no promises as to his health and well being though. Haven't decided on Melody's fate yet. _


	11. Chapter 11

**A/n:** _yeah, uhh, I expect hate mail at the end of THIS chapter too...__  
_

**Chapter Eleven**

All around Joe was controlled chaos. Charlie was barking out orders between getting on the radio and requesting more stations be called in for Mutual Assist. Gloria let Bruce have 30 seconds to freak out over the knowledge that Mitch was also out there, and then yelled at him until he pulled himself together and began to help her load up the rig. Joe wished he was so lucky as to have something to focus on, and he was terrified that he would not be allowed to go with the frantic firefighters. He tried to stay out of the way, knowing that they needed no distractions, but at the same time desperately wanted to be noticed. He stood plastered against a wall, watching everyone around him move with purpose and speed. He was rapidly approaching panic, when a strong hand suddenly clamped him on the forearm. He looked up, and automatically grabbed the object Charlie was thrusting in his face without really noting what it was. "You can ride with me in the command vehicle." Charlie said tersely. The item turned out to be a turnout coat identical to the one Charlie and most of the others were already wearing. Joe slipped the deceptively heavy article on and followed the Chief to his SUV.

Joe tore open the passenger side door and quickly slipped in, buckling up even as Charlie was putting the SUV in gear and pulling out ahead of the 2 firetrucks and the smaller rig that Gloria was driving with Bruce next to her. The drive was tense and silent, Joe afraid to say a word and terrified at what he would find when they got there. As they pulled up to about the same place Mitch and Frank had been dropped off earlier, Charlie turned to Joe. "Can I count on your help? I know you aren't trained properly, but every little bit helps. Just stay out of the way unless I call you, Okay?"

Joe nodded. "Thanks for letting me come along. And I'll help in any way I can." He was still very worried about his brother and Mitch, but had managed to reign in his emotions enough to appear calm, cool and collected. He was anything but, but was not going to give in to the fear. They got out of the SUV, and immediately Charlie was barking out orders. Gloria came over and asked Joe for help in setting up a triage area. He agreed and hurried over to the clearing where Bruce was dumping equipment. "Hang in there, Bud. Frank knows what he is doing and wouldn't let Mitch be put in any danger of he could help it." he said, more to reassure himself than to offer Bruce any comfort. Bruce nodded, face grim but determined. Joe knew he was channeling his prior experience with the Marines right now. With a quick pat on the back, he followed Gloria to the rig where he was promptly laden down with various assorted pieces of gear.

He staggered under the weight and general unwieldiness but followed Gloria and dumped each item as she pointed to a spot. He soon noticed there were an awful lot of oxygen tanks he was being told to schlep from the rig to the staging area. And then he realized something. "Hey, Umm, Gloria?" he asked hesitantly. "I don't want to sound snarky or anything, but I sort of noticed a distinct lack of fire hydrants in the vicinity. How do you guys expect to put out the fire?!"

Gloria smiled, but it was a grim one that lasted about half a second. "We aren't going to put it out. We are going to _try_ and contain it. Luckily there is almost no wind so we are at little risk of it spreading too fast or jumping lines." She straightened up from the crouch she had been in and took a short break. "Charlie will call in an air drop of fire suppressant. In the meantime, see all those shovels? The rest of us will start digging trenches to separate the fire from fuel. If it can't feed, it will die out on its' own. But we have to gauge how wide to dig the trenches, and make our best guess on wind patterns. And before you ask, as soon as we have a safe passage, yes, Bruce and I will go head toward the sawmill and look for survivors. And yes, you can come along, if for no other reason than so I won't have to carry the heavy stuff." she smiled again, this time a bit more sympathetic. Joe smiled back,if a little ironically.

It wasn't too long before the tell tale sound of a helicopter's rotors filled the air. Charlie waved Joe over and pointed up. "This is the first drop. Then he'll make a pass to assess, maybe decide to drop another load and at that point we should be able to make some progress. I already have other squads digging trenches on the other side of the fire. You stick close to me until I give the go ahead for the rescue team to go in." Joe bit back his immediate reaction; he wanted to get going right that minute and really didn't care about his personal safety. Charlie noticed his unease and gently placed a hand on Joe's shoulder. "I know you want to get in there, but trust me when I say the delay is necessary."

"I am not afraid of getting wet." Joe said with a tinge of desperation in his tone.

"That's not water." Charlie said as the helicopter above them let loose it's cargo. "Its fire retardant. Sucks the oxygen right out of the atmosphere." Joe blanched and gulped nervously.

"Oh." was all he said, looking a little paler. To his credit, Charlie didn't laugh or make Joe feel any more stupid than he did, but just then his radio squawked; it was the Pilot. Charlie stepped away, and Joe gave him the room. He returned to the staging area, where Gloria had her arm around Bruce. It was slightly comical, Bruce was very broad across the shoulders, and the only reason she reached that far high was because both were crouching. He joined them in their crouch, positioning himself slightly centered on both of them. "So what now?" he asked to no one in particular.

"We wait until Charlie gives the all clear, then the three of us go do our thing." Bruce was much calmer now, in professional mode. Joe could still see the worry in his eyes, and the slight wrinkles around them only emphasized what they were both feeling at the moment. Somehow, it was almost easier to have another person share the worry about a loved one. Maybe that was why he seldom really freaked out when Frank was around. ( _not counting Hall's kidnapping, that is_)

It was only a few minutes later when Charlie strode over to the waiting EMTs and PI. "We lucked out. This lack of wind has kept the fire pretty contained and the fact that the immediate area didn't have a whole lotta combustibles means it took one dump. You're cleared to go. But grab 'n go. No lingering. I am going to err on the side of caution and have another dump." he paused. "Take a couple of the guys with you." with a curt nod, he walked back over to his command center and continued to bark out orders in person and over the radio. Joe and Bruce wasted no time and immediately jumped to their feet, while Gloria hastened over to the small knot of firefighters waiting for instruction and randomly pointed to a pair. Within minutes everyone was laden down with firefighting or rescue equipment, even Joe. Bruce took the lead, although Joe kept pace.

"Wanna know something funny?" Bruce half whispered as they made their way through the forest. " I am so not used to being in front. For some crazy reason Jarheads like their Doc in the middle of the pack where it's 'safe'." His somewhat sour grin and sarcastic tone of voice got an ironic chuckle out of Joe. No one wasted any more energy talking, the air was still acrid with smoke and ash and before too long Joe was wishing he could be the first to admit defeat and take a deep breath from the oxygen tank that was resting along his back. But he was not about to show that weakness in front of the others, thinking they'd insist he return to the safe zone; that was not something he was prepared to do. He was going to find his brother. No matter what his condition was when he did.

The trees had begun to thin out ever so slightly and the smell of burnt wood began to mix with another, more metallic smell. Joe and Bruce each looked at one another quizzically, they knew something was different, and vaguely familiar, but were unable to place it. They were still staring at one another when suddenly Gloria stuck an arm between them. "Look!" she cried, a bit excitedly. They turned in unison and hearts leapt at the sight. Mitch was stumbling toward them, trying to yell but the smoke kept him coughing instead. Bruce left everyone behind as he raced towards his husband and was barely able to refrain from giving the man a bear hug and kiss. Instead he grabbed him by the upper arms and gently eased him down, then immediately placed the mask full of crisp, pure O2 over his face, telling him gently to take slow, deep breaths. He held up his hand as the others reached the duo, indicating questions could wait for ten seconds. Joe waited impatiently, shifting from one foot to the other nervously. Mitch only took a few deep breaths before shoving the mask away and speaking. "The sawmill exploded with both of them still inside!"

Even as Joe's heart sank at the news, he picked up on the 'both' reference. "Both of them?! Both of who?!" he demanded.

"Melody." was all Mitch said before replacing the mask and inhaling deeply. Joe gave a grunt of disgust mixed with rage and incredulity. He should have known that she'd pull a stunt like that. After all, he would have done the same were he in her shoes. He crouched down in front of Mitch, showing a distinct un Joe-like restraint as he waited for Mitch to resume speaking. "Frank said to wait an hour, no more, and then run for help if they weren't back. But it went up after about 45 minutes." He shut his eyes, taking another slow breath before continuing. "No idea how long I was out, but as soon as I came to I headed over to the site. Frank's trapped, but he was at least conscious. He yelled at me, made me leave him, check on Melody." He looked straight into Bruce's eyes then and shook his head. No one needed a translation. "So I went back and tried to move the debris but it was too heavy. Frank told me to get help. So here I am. Getting help." He smiled wanly and coughed again.

Joe, meanwhile had closed his eyes in partial relief at the news his brother was awake and coherent enough to make demands. The knowledge that he was trapped didn't allay all his fears though. He did, however, lean down and squeezed Bruce's shoulder in tacit sympathy. He may not have _liked _ the woman, but she was still Bruce's cousin. Bruce gripped the hand in silent acknowledgment before standing up, squaring his shoulders and asking Gloria to stay with Mitch while the rest of them got Frank and his cousin. The two firemen, who up to this point had been pretty much silent, took the lead and headed to the approximate area where Mitch had said Frank was stuck, Bruce and Joe close behind.

It was a short walk, and as they approached the wreckage of the sawmill, Joe suppressed a shudder at the devastation. He gave up any semblance of self control at that point and screamed for his brother. "Frank!" he was rewarded with a weak hand waving through a pile of debris. Joe ran straight there, leaving the other three in the dust. He skidded to a halt and fell to his knees, gripping the grubby hand tightly. He could barely see the rest of his brother but was able to tell his brother was awake. "You okay?!" he gasped.

"Not really, no." Frank was never one for the over the top dramatics that Joe was so famous for, but rather usually tended to downplay things. The worse he was hurt, the more he insisted he was fine. Which meant that he was in very bad shape right now, if he actually admitted he was in pain. Joe had to suppress another rush of panic and was distracted by the arrival of the rest of the guys.

"Joe, do me a favor. Go help Jake get Mel. I just..I just can't do it." Bruce pleaded. Frank squeezed his brother's hand, hard, and nodded, so Joe reluctantly got up and follwoed the other firefighter, who was already setting up the litter.

"Sorry, Man." Frank wheezed. "She just showed up. I shoulda hog tied her like I threatened."

"Wouldn't have worked. She can..she _could_ get out of them easy. Not that I have any first hand experience or anything." He and Brian, the fourth firefighter, were busy grunting and staring to lift the heavy sections of the wall that had pinned the elder brother. " 'sides" he ground out. "I was getting Joe out of the way. Dead bodies don't bother me. Not even family." He heaved the final piece off and squatted down to take a quick look, sucking air through his teeth as he beheld the extensive burns on Frank's limbs. "These hurt much?"

"Like you would not believe." Frank tried to make a joke out of it.

"Good."

"Unless you brought a nice big bag of morphine along, how is that good?!" Frank was incredulous.

"Means the nerves are still alive and intact. If these were 3rd degree burns, you'd be feeling nothing..and that is very bad. Very bad indeed." Bruce smiled, softening the news. "We can't linger, Charlie is having another dump of fire suppressant. So this is gonna give you a taste of what Joe felt like when we dragged his sorry ass outta here."

"Not likely. _**I **_have no intention of dropping _my_ brother." Joe was back, having laid the covered stretcher on the ground next to Frank's. The smirk was strained; Melody had taken the full force of the explosion and it was not a pretty sight. Even the other Firefighter looked a bit green. Bruce, Frank and Joe shared a short but bitter laugh, causing the other two to look on uncomprehendingly.

Bruce and Joe picked up Frank, while the other two took the remaining stretcher. By the time they had gotten back to where Mitch and Gloria were, Frank was unconscious and having a very hard time breathing, so Gloria ended up walking beside him squeezing air into his lungs every few beats. They made it to the Triage area, where several ambulances were already waiting. Bruce climbed into the back with Frank ( and Joe of course) and Mitch said he was fine in the front seat with the driver. Gloria lingered a bit, smoothing Frank's hair out of his face before stepping out of the way and wishing them luck.

There was a little confusion when they pulled to a stop and upon opening the back doors, seeing there were not at the emergency room of the Fairview Hospital, which was only a few miles from Calverton. Even more shocking was Jack Wayne's presence with his helicopter. "What the hell?!" Joe and Bruce each looked shocked.

"Fairview doesn't have a burn unit. Bayport does. Somebody called for a pickup, so here I am. Although I am surprised it isn't for you, Joe!" Jack laughed.

Joe shook his head. "It's Frank." Jack immediately sobered up and hastened to apologize.  
"Don't worry about it. I'd have lay odds it was me, too!" he reassured the old family friend. In short order, Frank was tied down, although now it was Joe who was 'breathing' for him. Bruce was busy taking vitals and trying to start an IV, but was failing miserably on both arms.

"Oh my gawd." Joe had finally gotten a close up look that lasted more than half a second. Both of Frank's arms were covered in burns, one side more so than the other, indicating he had had enough time to throw them up in front of his face, which was nearly untouched. One leg looked broken, and there were burns on them as well, although not nearly as extensive or angry looking as the arms. Bruce took the time to lay a reassuring hand on Joe's arm, before giving up the attempt and sticking the needle into a blemish free spot on his thigh.

"He's had a lot of smoke inhalation, and don't be surprised if they Trach or intubate him at the hospital. He'll need the help to breathe. It looks worse than it is, really, Joe. Second degree burns means he stands a very good chance of getting all or most of his mobility back. The nerves are still intact."

"But... the scars?" Joe's voice held a note of pity for his brother.

"That can't be avoided. But skin grafts can help. But unless he gets a massive infection, he will live, Joe. Have faith in that." Bruce tried to calm the younger brother down.

Dr Meadows, the doctor from the Burn unit who had treated Joe a long time ago when he had been severely whipped, met them on the roof of the hospital. There was not enough room in the elevator for everyone, so Bruce and Joe took the stairs. Joe immediately went outside on the small patio where the smokers hung out and dialed first his parents, then his fiancee. They were there in record time; Frank was still being treated and no one had come out to bring them up to speed yet. Laura reluctantly let go of her youngest so that Halloran could take her place. Fenton, while still mightily worried, tried to be professional. "Any idea of what happened?" he asked.

"If I had to make a guess, I'd say Meth lab explosion, but you'd have to confirm with Frank." Joe shrugged, arms tight around Hall. "Just a gut feeling based on the blast pattern plus a few other things. Maybe we should call Special Agent Connely. I bet that case he used as an excuse to pass this off on us is related." the words were bitter, and he was kicking himself for being so insistent that they finish what they started.

Halloran punched him the shoulder, hard. "Don't you start with the self recrimination Joseph Aaron Hardy. I will not stand for it. And Frank will kick your butt when he finds out. So quit it. Now." Her eyes were red, she had been crying as she had been told about Melody and of course was worried about her future brother in law. But she was not about to sit around and watch the man she loved castigate himself unnecessarily.

The next couple of hours passed by quietly, with the occasional ring of a cell phone to interrupt the silence. Laura was dozing, Fenton sitting with his eyes closed and legs stretched out in front and everyone else in various acts of nervousness. Bruce had called Melody's parents and was talking to them in a broken voice out on the patio. Joe was pacing, as per usual and Halloran was trying vainly to get him to sit down and take it easy. Chet had stopped by with a few sandwiches from Subway and Phil and Biff had each called asking for updates. Finally, though, the great big double doors swung open and Dr. Meadows walked out. Fenton nudged Laura, who instantly came awake and stood up, going straight to the doctor. "How is he?!" she demanded tremulously.

**A/n:** _All you Melody haters can rejoice. I toyed with the idea of her surviving too but being much worse off and having to suppress her antagonism long enough to beg forgiveness from Hall and make peace before succumbing to her injuries but then I decided.. nahhh. It's much more fun to have Frank beat himself up over letting her tag along against his better judgement and being granted absolution from Bruce ( mostly because of Frank's insistence that Mitch stay outta the line of fire) As for how bad Frank is, well you'll just have to wait and see bwhahahahahahah_


	12. Chapter 12

**A/n:** _yeah, uhh, there better NOT be any hate mail at the end of this one. This should at least keep some of you occupied until Snow posts her next chapter__  
_

**Chapter Twelve**

_How is he?! _The words hung in the air for what seemed an eternity before Dr Meadows smiled softly and invited them to her office. Laura pushed ahead and led the way, causing Joe and his father to look at one another bemusedly, and Dr. Meadows to smile again even as she shook her head. "Should have realized she'd remember the way." she gestured for the others to follow Laura who had already arrived and was impatiently holding the door open. "Please," the doctor said as she ushered everyone in. "Have a seat." There were only 2 chairs in front of the desk so Joe told his father to take the one his mother hadn't and he stood, arms wrapped around Halloran's tiny form in a tight embrace, although he wasn't sure if he was comforting her or using her to remain upright himself. Dr Meadows took her own seat behind the desk and sat forward, clasping her hands together.

"I can't decide if this is just a Hardy thing, or what, but Frank is in better shape than he has any right to be." she started off. She actually chuckled at the gasps of surprise from the family. "You can see him shortly, but first I want to go over everything." she leaned back now, and her smile faded. "Unfortunately, in my line of work, I see the types of injuries Frank has all too often. It's almost to the point where they outnumber burns from house or car fires and other common events like spilling hot coffee."

"So it was a Meth lab." Fenton spoke flatly. The Doctor nodded.

"Almost certainly. I also examined the other body" she started delicately and stopped when Halloran sobbed and waited while Joe calmed her down. Laura had reached over a hand and grasped the younger woman's in support as well. When the she had composed herself, Halloran nodded for the doctor to continue. "Based on that, I can safely assume it was the cause. However, Frank was obviously further away from the blast area. I imagine you want all the gory details?" All three Hardys nodded determinedly.

"We did intubate him, his lungs are damaged by the smoke but I promise he'll be fine in a week or so. There are first and second degree burns over about 30%, mainly on his arms and legs. His chest and torso is untouched, the vest saved him there." Fenton and Laura each look puzzled at that comment until Joe leaned over and whispered in his father's ear. Fenton's face cleared, and he nodded to Joe as he patted Laura on the hand. "His legs. Well it looks worse than it is. I expect a lot of blistering and maybe a little bit of debridement will be necessary. However at this juncture I do not foresee needing skin grafts although he will probably not enjoy walking for a while and if he's vain, he'll never wear shorts again." That got a snort from Joe.

"I'm the vain one."

"I remember" the Doctor teased, reminding him silently about their first 'conversation' and his first questions to her about his injuries when he was the patient. Joe blushed at the reminder and that got Halloran to raise an eyebrow in inquiry. "Anyway" she continued. "His arms are another story." here she became more serious. " Mostly second degree, but a few small patches are third degree although nothing that will restrict his recovery or diminish his use of them. More like he will have a few spots that will he will not have any sensation. He will definitely require skin grafts here, and the debridement will be excruciating and unfortunately, take several weeks to accomplish." she stopped then, letting the news sink in.

Laura has given a short, sharp cry and began tearing up, so Fenton stood and gathered her into his arms, murmuring softly into her hair. Joe growled in frustration and said "If you need skin, take mine."

"I'll hold you to that if it becomes necessary. Normally we take from the patient if possible as that is far more preferable all around. And it does look as if Frank will be able to supply his own for the most part. As soon as the debridement is accomplished we can see about releasing him. But Frank will be in charge of that."

"How so?" Fenton asked.

"We only do as much in a session as the patient is willing to handle. With third degree burns, there's no pain, so we can do more at a time. But with second, well, it's the individual's pain tolerance that sets the tone."

"Knowing my brother, Doc, you'll be told to keep going until it's done in one shot. So ignore everything he says." Joe was not joking, and everyone in the room knew it. Dr Meadows nodded at the warning and continued her explanation of Frank's prognosis.

"It will be months, many months, before he is completely recovered, but he _will_ recover, and I see no reason why it should not be a full one with absolutely no loss of mobility. In fact I think we can release him as soon as the tube comes out of his throat as long as there are no set backs like pneumonia." she smiled at the sighs of relief and happy exclamations from everyone. "Why don't you go see him now, although I must insist only two at a time."

"You and Mom go, Dad." Joe offered. He wanted to to get some tea or something into Halloran, who was still in shock. "We'll be by in a little bit." Although somewhat taken aback by the unusual generosity, Fenton wasted no time in agreeing to the plan, afraid Joe would renege and then they'd never get him out of Frank's room. If anyone was worse than Frank when it came to mother henning, it was his younger brother. Dr Meadows stood and escorted them out of the office, then brought the elder Hardys to Frank's room. Joe and Hall went the other way, back towards the waiting room, where they found Bruce pacing nervously.

"Dude. You disappeared. What happened?" Joe asked.

Bruce hesitated, glancing at Halloran. Joe caught the look and suggested that she go downstairs and grab a few drinks for everyone. Halloran agreed and paused only long enough to give Bruce a quick hug. After she was out of earshot, Bruce sat heavily down in one of the chairs. "I formally ID'd the body then called my Aunt and Uncle" he spoke in a tired voice. "Never gets easier."

Joe grimaced in sympathy before pulling Bruce in for a quick man hug. "How's Mitch?" he asked when they broke apart. At the mention of his husband, Bruce got decidedly less morose.

"Pretty good, just a little smoke inhalation. He went to the Harpers to help them start making arrangements. I should get back there tonight," he was about to continue when a huge yawn betrayed his exhaustion. Joe was about to suggest an alternative when he was interrupted.

"You are in no fit state to go anywhere Bruce. And you know it. You are staying with us." Halloran's voice brooked no argument whatsoever. She handed over 2 cups of coffee, keeping one for herself and balancing another two for her future in laws in a styrofoam cup holder.

"She's right, Pal. Yer exhausted. Come home with us. Halloran will feed you too much food, I will pour you too much beer and we can have a nice argument about the Redskins and the Giants." Joe tried to cajole his friend.

"What about Frank?" Bruce asked pointedly.

"Joe will stay here with his brother for a while and I will take you home with me." Halloran made the decision.

"And I'll scam a ride from somebody after I ream out my brother for getting blown up." Joe finished, leaving no room to argue. "It's no bother, really. And besides, now I owe you for Frank's life, too." Joe's grin faded and he looked earnestly into Bruce's eyes. "Seriously, Dude. Take us up on the offer. I'll feel better about you driving back after you have had some sleep. And Key Lime Pie." He winked at his soon to be bride. Who pointedly ignored the not so subtle hint. Bruce gave up trying to argue, he really was too tired to drive and he knew it.

"Fine." he grumped. "Just let me call Mitch." he stepped outside and made his call. Halloran handed Joe the coffees for his parents and nudged him towards the double doors. She kissed him on the cheek before turning around and gathering her things for the drive.

Joe stopped by the Nurse's station to find out what room his brother was in and chuckled when he found out it was the same one he had occupied many months before. (_Irony, thy name is Hardy_) he thought to himself as he pushed open the heavy door and slipped in. Laura was seated so close to the bed that her knees touched the side. She had both her hands wrapped gently around one of Frank's, which was itself wrapped in several layers of gauze. Silently, he handed one of the cups of now nearly lukewarm coffee to his father before bending over his mother and kissing the top of her head as he slipped hers into the space between her legs. "How's he doin'? He asked quietly, barely audible over the hiss of the ventilator. Laura turned a pale face up to her son, smiling tiredly.

"He's been stirring a little but hasn't opened his eyes yet." she responded softly, unwilling to cede her place just yet. Fenton touched Joe on the shoulder lightly and cocked his head in a request to further talk outside. Joe nodded and followed his father out into the hallway.

Fenton turned and appraised his youngest for a long while before finally asking "Since when does your brother wear a bullet proof vest?"

"Since the other day when I gave it to him."

Fenton's eyebrow rose comically like a certain Vulcan Science Officer's. "Oh?!" was all he said, though.

Joe shrugged. "He was jealous of mine." That got a double take of epic proportions and Joe grinned mischievously before becoming serious. "It was something I did to give Hall a little peace of mind. And it saved my bacon once already on this damned case. When I got Frank to agree to finish the job, I decided it was better to be safe than sorry, for both of us."

"Apparently you were right. Since when did you get so cautious?" Fenton asked, curious but not overly so.

"Since I got engaged." That brought a soft smile to his father's face.

"Shoulda done it years ago then. Saved your mother a few grey hairs."

Something akin to pain and regret passed over Joe's face at the comment before his eyes cleared and he shrugged. "I had plans to. Things didn't work out that way." Rather than feel guilty at the reminder, Fenton just accepted the comment and let the vision of a different black haired girl wash over his memories. A minute later, both men shook off the past and went back into the room.

"My turn, Mom." Joe pulled the chair back and helped Laura stand. "Hall is taking Bruce home to our place, he's done in. I'm not staying long, just wanna yell at Big Brother for a bit. But then I am going home too, and you know Frank would want all of us to get some rest. Not like he's a very good conversationalist currently." He gently nudged her towards her husband before sitting in the chair she had just vacated. As he turned towards the still form on the bed, he absentmindedly shooed his parents out the door. "Go. I'll call if he wakes up. Promise." he barely registered his father's chuckle and soft good night.

He sat there for a while, just looking. With a critical eye he noticed the fact that underneath the ventilator, which obscured half his brother's face, Frank looked like he had sustained nothing more than a bad sunburn. At least on his face. The bandages on his arms told a different story, and the light blanket covered his legs to his belly button. His chest was bare, and decidedly milky white. "Dude, when I said you needed a little color, I didn't mean it like this." he admonished in a whisper. "We are way too old for this shit."

Joe settled back in the chair, having had to move it a few feet away from the bed to make room for his long legs. He crossed them at the ankle and sat back, still staring at his brother. "This is another fine mess we've gotten ourselves into, isn't it, Big Brother?" he mused softly. "Or if I had to be honest with myself, that I've gotten _you_ into. You should never have let me talk you into this harebrained scheme of mine." he continued regretfully. "I'm sorry, Bro. Next time I will listen when you have reservations." There was no answer, but Joe hadn't really expected one. He sighed deeply, wondering how long he should sit vigil until going home. Intellectually he knew Frank was in no danger, and that there was no real reason to be there. But old habits dies hard. And yet, he ached to get home to his girl. He at least had the comfort of knowing his brother would live. Halloran, on the other hand, was surely devastated by the lost of her best friend. He knew it would be eating her up that she had not made the first overtures of reconciliation. And it was not fair to expect Bruce would be able to comfort her, as he was dealing with Melody's loss on a far more personal level. And doing so in a strange city without the support of his family.

He gave another deep, regretful sigh, then stood up and leaned over his brother, pressing his lips to Frank's forehead just as his brother had done to him not so long ago. "I'll be back in the morning. Make sure you are awake by then" he whispered. He lingered a moment more; he thought he felt Frank stir, but after a bit nothing changed so he straightened up and moved the chair further away from the bed. On his way out, he stopped by the Nurse's station. "If he wakes up, call me. No matter the hour."

He grabbed a cab, asking the driver to make a side trip to the local Sev, picking up a 12 pack. As the driver pulled up to the house, he paid plus left a generous tip and quickly made his way inside. The smell of meat sauce assaulted his nostrils as soon as he walked in. "Mmmm. Smells good, Babe." he sniffed appreciatively even as he wrapped his arms around her and gave her a long gentle kiss that was interrupted by a pointed throat clearing. Breaking free, Joe grinned over Hall's head at Bruce. "What, you want a kiss too? Won't Mitch be jealous?!"

Bruce merely raised an eyebrow and tilted his head at the parcel on the kitchen table. "That better be cold."

"Yep." Joe reluctantly disentangled himself and tore open the box, handing a beer to Bruce before grabbing one for himself. Halloran grabbed a plate and began ladling spaghetti and pasta sauce into a heap before shaving some fresh Parmesan over the whole thing like gently falling snow. She nudged the men back into the living room and let Joe sit before handing the plate over to him. She gave him a quick peck on the lips before declaring she was going to clean up in the kitchen. She shushed their offers to help with a smile.

Joe shoveled large fork fulls of pasta into his mouth, barely taking the time to chew or swallow. Bruce just stared at him as he stuffed his face. "You always like this?" he laughed.

"You have no idea." Halloran's teasing voice came through the sounds of slurping. "It's easy to see why Frank is the skinny one. He obviously never got seconds as Joe must have gotten there first." she laughed as she came into the living room bearing a large platter of brownies. Joe took long enough to scowl at both of them before snagging a pair of brownies as the plate passed by.

"No Key Lime Pie?" he pouted around a mouth full of chocolate.

"Not in season. And if I make it for you all the time you will get tired of it." she retorted, not in least bothered at his sulking. "I am going upstairs. Been a long day for all of us. Don't stay up all night." She leaned over Joe and brushed her lips against his before giving Bruce a kiss on his cheek.

The two men sat in companionable silence for a while until finally Joe spoke. "You okay?" he asked neutrally.

Bruce shrugged. "Not the first time somebody I cared about died violently." He was morose, but not maudlin. "Mitch told me how she kinda forced her way in and that Frank was pretty adamant about a few things. And I know how Mel gets. Got." He sighed. "It was her fault, Joe. You know as well as I do that even if your brother had told her to stay put, or leave or whatever, she would have ignored him and gotten herself killed anyway. I'm just glad she didn't take anybody else with her." he smiled sadly. "I kinda like you guys."

"Feeling is entirely mutual, Pal." Joe returned soberly with a raise of the his beer. "Hall show you the spare bedroom?"

"And loaned me a pair of your sweats to sleep in."

"As long as she didn't give away my favorite tee shirt. You'd stretch it out with those gorilla shoulders of yours." Joe teased.

"_You_ are just jealous of my manly physique." Bruce retorted haughtily as he flexed an impressive arm. They took one look at each other and burst out laughing. They were still chuckling as they made their way upstairs, where they parted ways for the night.

Joe quietly slipped into the bedroom he shared with Halloran. The light in the bathroom was on, the door half closed; something she often did so he wasn't stumbling in the dark when he came in long after she had gone to sleep. Tonight, though, as soon as he slipped under the covers she flung herself into his embrace. Burying her head into his chest she sobbed uncontrollably until it became hard for her to breathe. Joe said nothing; he just held her tightly and let her cry herself out. He knew better than anyone the emotions she was feeling. He lay against the headboard and pulled her into his lap, pulling the down comforter around them in an attempt to keep warm. When she finally snuffled her way into relative silence he spoke. "Don't."

She raised bloodshot emerald green eyes and looked puzzled. "Don't what?"

"Don't beat yourself up. It doesn't work. It won't change a damn thing."

She pushed away, a little angry. "You have no idea what I am going through right now!" She spat.

"I know _exactly _what you are going through, Babe." Joe corrected her quietly. "You are feeling massively guilty at the way you left things with Melody, furious with yourself for not making the first move, and pissed as hell at her for getting herself killed and now you can't make it right." he cocked his head. "That about sum it up?'

"You are just saying that cuz it's something your shrink would say."

"No." he shook his head. "Well, yes, actually Dr S would say that, but that's not what I mean. I said it because I have lived it, Babe. In Surround Sound." His laugh was bitter. "And in yet another cosmic joke, it was an explosion." He shifted a little to get more comfortable, forcing her to sit up and lean back against his chest. "I told you about Iola. You read the newspaper articles. But they left something out; the reason she was at the car alone, without me? Was because I was flirting with another girl. She was pissed at me and she ran off." Joe's voice became heavy with emotion. "She died because of the way I had left things. I could have apologized. I _should _ have. I should have gone with her, or stopped her from going to the car in the first place. Instead, I behaved like stupid 17 year old kid who thought he was invincible and that he had the rest of his life ahead of him to spend with his girlfriend. And Iola died thinking I was an obnoxious teenager who couldn't even pretend to be faithful. And I regret that most of all. That I never proved to her how very much I loved her." He tightened his embrace. "You still love Melody, and you are going to kick yourself every day for not making up with her. But you _have _to forgive yourself. Otherwise you will self destruct. And that is _not _a pretty sight. And it puts the ones left behind in a terrible place. Ask Frank. He's been stuck picking up the pieces of my psyche for the last twenty years." he tipped her head so that she was looking at him. Both of them had tears in their eyes. "Grieve. Scream at the injustice of it all. Feel sorry for yourself once in a while. But don't spend the rest of your life punishing yourself and everyone around you. Especially Melody. Don't dwell on the bad shit. Remember the good things about her. We all screw up; sometimes in magnificently epic ways. Nobody's perfect. 'cept maybe Frank." That got a reluctant giggle and a swat on the arm. "But most importantly, know this, Halloran Marie Jacobs. I love more than anything in this universe, even the Impala." that got another snort. "And I will _not_ let you go through this alone. Whatever you need from me, you got. Although I reserve the right to decide what that is if necessary." He smiled gently at her. "After all, I have some first hand experience. It'd be foolish not to take advantage of my expertise."

"Did anybody ever tell you you were pretty wise on occasion?" she whispered quietly.

"Nobody would dare. It'd be impossible to live with all that smugness." He laughed when he heard her groan at the comment. "Try and get some sleep, Sweetheart. We got a long couple of days ahead of us." And Joe slipped down on the bed until he was flat and allowed Halloran to curl up next to him, where they fell asleep cuddled in each others' arms.

**A/n: **_Okay so he's not awake yet. That's next chapter. Plus a funeral. and if you are really lucky, some progress on the case. you know, that thing that seems to have been left by the wayside in the wake of character development. _


	13. Chapter 13

**A/n:** _Guess who is awake! Yay!__  
_

**Chapter 13**

The next morning, Joe awoke to the sound of the shower down the hall. Carefully he eased his way out from under Halloran's still sleeping form. That was unusual, she was usually up far earlier than he was. That alone indicated to him that she was more wrung out by the situation than she was letting on. He leaned over, kissing her softly on the cheek. The only response he got was a little wriggle as she snuggled deeper under the covers. He kissed her again before taking a quick shower of his own. Coming downstairs, he found Bruce rummaging through the kitchen. "Looking for something?"

"Caffeine. Large copious amounts of caffeine." Bruce grunted sourly.

"Man after my own heart." Joe grinned as he reached into the proper cupboard and pulled out the grinder before opening the freezer door and grabbing the bag of beans. He swiftly ground enough for two pots and prepped the grounds with his special recipe. "Hand me the Britta" he requested and nodded his thanks when the pitcher of filtered water was passed over. In minutes the coffee maker was burbling away happily. Joe bustled about the kitchen. Bruce just grunted every so often, giving dirty looks to the coffee pot which was brewing far too damn slow for his liking. Eventually, though, finally, the coffee pot gave a last gurgle and spit. Joe reached above the coffee maker and grabbed three mugs. He poured two right away, passing one silently over to the still grumpy paramedic. The remainder of the coffee went straight into a thermal carafe and he started the second pot

"Hungry? I can do omelets or french toast. Apparently, my pancakes are inedible." Joe sniffed, pretending to be insulted.

"I'll cook. Least I can do. I am almost awake now. And my pancakes are the envy of the entire station." Bruce offered. "Just show me where everything is." Joe had no problem with this and soon stepped back and watched Bruce putter around, cracking eggs like a pro. Joe sat at the tall kitchen island, nursing his coffee and chatting with Bruce about anything except the explosion and Melody. Once or twice he thought about running upstairs to check on Halloran, but he wasn't sure what her plans were for the day. It was a workday, but being the Boss did have its' perks on occasion. In the end though, he waited until Bruce was ready to serve the first batch.

"Lemme run upstairs and see if my beloved is awake. Otherwise I don't want to be accused of eating all the pancakes without giving her right of First Refusal." Joe said.

"Fine by me. I should call Mitch anyway, see how I am getting back."

Joe quickly ran up the stairs and pushed open the door to the bedroom. She was still in bed, although he was pretty sure she was awake. He stepped fully into the room, crouching down to eye level with her head. "Hey Sleeping Beauty" he said quietly. He was rewarded with a pair of emerald green eyes opening and the teeniest of smiles on her lips.

"Make up your mind." she reprimanded with a hint of laughter in her voice. "Pick one Disney Princess and stick with it. Otherwise I may have an Identity Crisis."

"Hmm, true. And I make a much better Flynn Rider than I do Prince Charming." he conceded as he leaned over and placed a light kiss on her nose. "Bruce made breakfast. It's about ready. Wasn't sure if you planned on going into work today..." he left the rest of it unsaid. She frowned a little, thinking.

"I should, if just for a little while." She sat up and allowed him to pull her to a stand and wrap her robe around her. " Why don't I go in, just to let Phil and Dave know I will be gone the rest of the week. I'll meet you at the hospital this afternoon." She decided as they made their way downstairs. She accepted the plate from Bruce with a smile of thanks and gave Joe another smile as he placed her coffee, heavy on the cream, next to her arm. Joe's own plate was piled high and Bruce's finished off the batch. They all ate quickly, with the two lovebirds complimenting Bruce on his skills as they polished off the pancakes with great relish. Soon, everything was gone and it was time to get on with the day.

"I suppose you have called the hospital already?" she asked Joe, who shook his head no.

"Nope. Haven't even called the parental units. But I am going over there like right now." he sad.

"Well g'wan then. Git." she admonished. "I'll load the dishwasher and take my shower. I'll meet you at the hospital early this afternoon." she turned to Bruce. "What are your plans?"

"Thought I'd bum a ride to the hospital with Joe. I'd like to see Frank, thank him for keeping Mitch safe and letting him know I don't hold Mel against him. And Mitch is already on his way. He'll meet us there too."

"Sounds like a plan." Joe declared. He grabbed Halloran around the waist, tickling her underneath the robe that was in danger of coming undone. She giggled but bravely fought him off. "Love you lots." he whispered into her ear before letting her go. He swept into the hallway, Bruce following close behind. Keys in hand, he led the way to the Impala and they were on their way to the hospital.

With a familiarity born of too many visits, Joe took a back entrance to the hospital's parking lot and snagged a parking spot close to an entrance that most others never knew about or used. He went down one short corridor before taking a left turn through a stairwell access door and sprinted up the three flights, Bruce keeping pace. The emerged in the Burn Unit about six steps from the Nurse's Station, which that morning was manned by a pair of middle aged women with greying hair but kind eyes. They both smiled at Joe but one was on the phone so could only raise a hand in quick acknowledgement of their presence. "Good morning dear." the other one spoke. "I just finished checking Frank's stats. He had a nice quiet night, but no sign of waking up yet. You can both go in, but remember, only two at a time."

"Thanks!" Joe grinned and quickly made his way down the short hall to Frank's room. He shoved the door open and strode in half expecting Frank to be awake and trying to pull the tube out of his throat. He was disappointed. The nurse had opened the blinds and sunlight streamed in, bathing the room in a much softer light than the harsh florescent blubs that lined the ceiling. Joe was grateful for that, in the natural light Frank looked a lot better than he would have otherwise. He approached the bed, frowning a little. Frank should be awake, or at least he thought so. He nudged the bed with a knee. "Wake up, Lazybones." Nothing. Joe let out a long, overly loud and overly dramatic sigh and flopped unceremoniously into the chair, actually causing it to skid back a few inches. Still nothing. Bruce looked quizzically at his blond friend, then at the darker one lying unconscious and breathing in sync with the machine next to the bed.

"Don't think he's listening, Bud." he said dryly.

Joe snorted. "He never does. And yet _I_ am always the one accused of being the obstinate one. I tell ya it isn't fair." He leaned forward and gently wrapped his hand around Frank's bandaged one. Speaking much more softly, and more gently than Bruce expected of his friend, Joe repeated his request. "C'mon Bro. Wake up. You know I always hated the Silent Treatment gag. Way too passive aggressive." he squeezed his brother's hand, trying to balance his desire to get through to his brother and his unwillingness to cause any more pain on the burned limb. He thought he imagined it, but when he squeezed a second time, he was sure. The merest imperceptible twitch underneath his fingers. Growing excited, but still trying to remain calm, he spoke again. "Frank? Open your eyes for me, Bro. Please? Pretty Please?!"

Bruce was hard pressed to remain stoic, it was comical the way Joe was pleading like a four year old begging for extra dessert. He was saved by the timely vibration of his cell phone in his pants pocket. Pulling it out, he saw that it was a text message. "Mitch is here. I'm gonna go meet him downstairs so he doesn't spend an hour wandering around like a lost puppy." Joe absent mindedly waved his free hand in acknowledgment even as he kept begging Frank to wake up. Chuckling, Bruce left the two brothers to their battle of wills.

Joe never heard him leave, he was too busy staring intently at Frank's face, hoping to notice the exact second he opened his eyes. He resisted the urge to shake his brother. But man was it hard to do so. Instead he kept up the wheedling, going from concerned,to annoying to obnoxious in both tone of voice and content. He figured that at some point Frank would just get fed up and open his eyes just to get some relief. It had worked before on several occasions.

Frank Hardy was nothing if not predictable. Sure enough, after about ten minutes of constant haranguing by his brother, he stirred and groaned a little as he tried to open his eyes. Joe immediately picked up on it and upped his urgings. "That's it Big Brother. Wakey wakey." He stood, crouching directly over Frank so the first thing he'd see was a familiar face. Frank's eyes opened the merest slit and he shifted, groaning softly. "Just look at me, 'kay?" Joe pleaded. "All the way open, Frank."

Finally, with effort, Frank opened his eyes completely. Joe's face lit up with a big smile. "'Bout time you woke up. Was getting tired of talking to myself." As soon as Frank tried to talk, he began to choke and panic lit his eyes until Joe's words cut through the haze. "Woah, there slow down. No trying to talk with a tube down your throat. It doesn't work that way." Joe had leaned even closer, placing both hands gently on Frank's chest to keep him still. "Hey, Frank, relax, okay? Don't fight it." At Frank's slight nod, Joe stood back up. "I'll be right back. Just want to tell the Nurses you are awake. Don't do anything crazy while I am gone." With a final squeeze of Frank's shoulder he was out the door.

The nurse who earlier had been on the phone was still at the desk and this time able to talk. As soon as Joe told her that Frank was awake, she paged Dr. Meadows. "It will probably be a few minutes before she can stop by. Why don't you go back in and wait? I'll be in in a sec to check his vitals." she said. Nodding his thanks, Joe turned around and headed back.

Halfway there, he stopped mid stride and abruptly swung around, heading to the waiting area. He stepped outside onto the smoking patio and called his parents. "He's awake." he said as soon as Laura had picked up. He smiled a little at her squeal of delight and shout through the house to her husband. "Yes Mom, I will tell him you are on your way." he replied to her request. He hung up after a quick goodbye and returned to the room, where the Nurse was just finishing up her check.

"He's doing great." she smiled at Frank although the words were for Joe. "Dr Meadows is on her way and she'll want to do a more thorough exam." she patted Frank on the leg before leaving. Joe sat down and scootched the chair closer even though the act squished his knees.

"Hey." he said quietly. He felt a little foolish, actually. It was one thing to ramble on incoherently not expecting a reply, and quite another to talk knowing you can't get one. He went to grasp Frank's hand, but when he did he could tell it was hurting him. "Sorry, Bro." he apologized. "Does it hurt a lot?"

Frank nodded but tried to smile. It was lost behind all the tape that was keeping the tube in place, but Joe noticed the crinkling around his eyes and smiled back. "Stupid question, huh?" This got a definite eye roll. "Well I highly endorse Dr. Meadows. Oh and this time she'll be able to use her experience and expertise on injuries she actually is trained to handle instead of slumming it on my back!" he patted the bed. "And ya hafta admit, these beds are damn comfy. Think we can talk her into letting us bring a couple home?" At that Frank started laughing but it quickly turned into more like choking. Joe was freaking out when Dr. Meadows can striding in.

"Slow down, Frank. Don't fight the machine. You just relax and let it make the decisions for you." she soothed.

"My fault, Doc. I made him laugh." Joe chastised himself.

"Then why don't you take a break. I need to do a more thorough examination and I prefer to do it without an audience. I am very shy." she winked at Frank, who had calmed down enough that he was no longer fighting the machine. He did, however wink back. Joe took long enough to apologize to his brother before taking off.

"Now then." Dr Meadows began. "Let's have a look, shall we?" Unlike most doctors( and Frank had seen his share despite not having his brother's penchant for needing them) Dr. Meadows kept up a steady commentary on her observations. "Pupils equal and reactive. Pulse strong and steady." she picked up Frank's right hand, the limb that had taken the brunt of the explosion. She gently unwound the bandage, pausing every time she noticed Frank squirming a little in discomfort. "If it get's to be too much, I'll stop." she said. Frank only shook his head minutely. She continued unwrapping and finally, His arm was laid bare. Deftly, she maneuvered herself so that his view was blocked as she peered intently at the burns. Frowning slightly, she managed to smooth out her expression before turning back and smiling at Frank.

"Can you move the fingers for me, one at a time, please?" Frank did so, slowly, pain evident by the tears in his eyes and the light sheen of sweat on his forehead. He repeated the exercise on the other arm when Dr, Meadows switched sides. He got a break when she pulled the blanket off his legs, but as before, did so in a way that he was unable to see for himself. It was a little frustrating. He wanted to know how bad it was. But Dr. Meadows was not going to oblige him ,and it wasn't like he could come right out and ask.

By the time she finished, his frustration was evident. "My goodness, and I though Joe was the impatient one!" she lightly teased. "You are going to be _fine_ young man, but you need to let me finish and then I will tell you all at once, okay?" his frown indicated that he thought she already _was_ finished.

"Not so. I need to do a few pulmonary function tests first, and then I can give you your prognosis." she chuckled at his confusion, which through long practice she was able to discern even through the mess of equipment surrounding most of his face. "I am fluent in Facial Sign Language. I can tell you want to know how bad it is, and I promise you will hear the whole truth from me.. _once I am sure of everything_. Until then, just chill." Her grin got slightly wider. "Just like you kept telling your brother when he was the one laying abed like a complete spudge." Now his eyes widened in amazement. "I also have a very good memory and excellent hearing." She straightened up and headed out the door, but stopped and turned back as she reached the threshold. "I'll be back in a little bit to do some more testing on your lungs."

Frank was left alone for a while then. He really had expected Joe to come rushing back in as soon as the doctor had left , but the door remained closed. He still ached to know what was going on, and what had happened to Mitch and Melody, not to mention when this damned tube was coming out.

He had almost drifted back asleep when the door creaked open. It was Bruce and Mitch. "Hey, man." Bruce said as he caught Frank's eye. "Joe's with your parents. They said we could come in first, since we need to get back to Calverton." Bruce sat down on the chair, while Mitch hovered nearby. "I just wanted to thank you, for everything. For telling Mitch to stay outta the line of fire. At least he listened..." Bruce broke down then. Mitch laid a hand on a shoulder, and Frank forced himself to raise his own arm, offering it in apology or support, neither man was sure. Bruce took it gently, being careful not to squeeze. It took a long moment, and a very deep breath, but he blurted out. "It's not your fault, Frank. So don't feel guilty about anything. I don't blame you for what happened."

Mitch chimed in as well. "I know we aren't supposed to speak ill of the dead, but I am a big believer in Karma. It was bound to catch up sooner or later." Frank was trying to shake his head, and both of the other men thought he was trying to still shoulder the responsibility. Mitch continued. "Seriously, don't beat yourself up about it. We all know Melody disregarded you and did what she wanted anyway."

Frank gave pulled his hand away and slammed it on the bed in frustration, but it also caused a wave of pain to roll over him and he scrunched his eyes tightly until it passed. When he opened them again, Bruce had stood up. "We have to get going. We'll be back in a couple of days." He leaned in very close and whispered. "If I had to choose between my husband and my cousin, I may be a selfish bastard but I'm glad I am not burying Mitch. So Thanks, for him." straightening up, he surreptitiously wiped away a tear before turning and wrapping his arm around Mitch's waist.

As they were leaving, Dr Meadows returned. "Me again!" she chirped, carrying a clipboard this time. She fiddled with a few dials, then unclipped the hose from the section that was sticking out of his throat. "Take a deep breath." she instructed. "Another." Frank complied, brow furrowed as the sensation was odd, if not uncomfortable. "Good , very good." she clipped something on the end of the tube and then told Frank, " Breath in as deeply as you can then blow out as hard as you can." he did so and she immediately took a look, smiling broadly at whatever she was seeing. "Oh your numbers are great! I think we can remove the breathing tube altogether. Like the sound of that?!"

He responded by bringing his right hand up in a sort of thumbs up gesture. He couldn't quite get the fingers to curl completely around though. Within moments, the offending apparatus was out of his throat and he was coughing slightly. "No talking!" the doctor warned him. "Ice chips for now, maybe in a few hours we can see about actual liquids." she shoved the intubation machine out of the way, but replaced it was an oxygen tank, complete with mask that covered his nose an mouth. He made a small moue of disappointment which she caught. "It's just a precaution, you inhaled a lot of smoke and your lungs need all the help they can get. In 24 hours we'll see about swapping it out for a nasal hose, okay?" she promised.

He frowned and then sighed his acceptance. "Well at least you are easier to convince than Joe was." She sat down then, pulling the chair close. "I wanted to go over some things with you, before your family comes in."

"Frank, I am not going to pull any punches here. The burns on your arms are quite severe and you are going to need skin grafts. Luckily, your legs are far less of an issue and other than some pretty heavy blistering which will hurt like hell when they burst, I am not all that concerned. But back to your arms." she sobered, looking straight into his eyes. "It is going to take a long time. The debridement will be painful and tedious. I am hoping we can use your own skin for grafts, as that will be best all around, but your brother has offered to donate and we can also use cadaver skin." she paused, noting the look of panic that had come over his face. "I want you to understand something. " she looked steadily at him. "You _will_ have a complete recovery. Of that I am sure of." She smiled. "Do you believe me?" she asked.

Frank looked at her a long time before nodding "Yeah" he rasped out in a barely audible voice. He didn't believe her but he was willing to let it slide for the moment. Dr. Meadows pursed her lips and regarded him for a moment before making a decision.

"All right, I think that is enough for now. I want you to rest; and that means keeping the visitors to a minimum. Tomorrow when you are a little stronger we will see about beginning the debridement process. I don't want to release you until that is completed, so the sooner we start, the sooner you can get out of here." She stood up, giving him a look that was hooded. "Your mother is chomping at the bit. And I am shocked Joe hasn't tried to sneak in yet. But I mean it. Rest." and with that, she left, only to have the door immediately swing back open heralding the arrival of Fenton and Laura.

His parents fussed over him for a while, and he was hard pressed to not talk as per doctor's orders, although he managed to get across his request for more ice chips. Every time he tried to move, his arms protested mightily, and his legs weren't exactly happy either. The only saving grace was that his throat, while sore, felt much better without the tube and swallowing was a lot easier. He took full advantage of the oxygen mask, taking lots of slow, deep breaths and before too long he no longer tasted char. Fenton noticed he was getting tired long before Laura did and tried to hint to his wife that they should go. Frank, of course, was too polite to tell his mother to go away. That didn't stop him from sending some pointed looks over her head to his father, though. Eventually, though, Laura was persuaded once she saw Frank yawn mightily. "We'll be back after dinner, dear." she promised. Frank nodded and raised a hand weakly in goodbye.

He fell asleep almost immediately and napped for several hours. When he awoke, he was only slightly surprised to see Joe back in the room, seated in the chair with his head tipped back and snoring lightly. His initial attempt to get his brother's attention failed, so he tried another tactic. He painfully reached for the small plastic cup that once had ice chips in it but now contained water. He fervently hoped it was still cold as he he nudged it off the little table and onto his brother's lap.

It worked better than he could have hoped for. Joe sputtered awake with an oath. "What the hell...?!" his surprise quickly turned to annoyance as he realized Frank was laughing at him underneath the mask until he began coughing again. He immediately jumped up and helped calm his brother down until the coughing subsided. "You shouldn't exert yourself like that" he reproved mildly once Frank had relaxed again.

"It was worth it" Frank rasped softly. He smiled under the mask and lifted his hand. Joe grabbed it and held on loosely. It hurt, but he needed the tactile sensation more. "Had to get your attention."

"Yeah, well, next time throw a pencil at me or something." Joe groused as he settled back into the chair, only to immediately jump back up and disappear into the attached bathroom. He came back out with a threadbare towel that barely looked capable of drying his hands, let alone sopping up several ounces of melted ice chips that had pooled onto the seat.

"Didn't have a pencil handy." was the innocent reply, still soft but sounding less asthmatic. He got a dirty look in return before Joe finished drying the chair off. Frank tired to hide the smirk at hearing Joe's grumbled mutterings about wet pants.

"Just for that I think I will call my bride to be and tell her to forget about your present." he grumped, crossing his arms and pouting.

"What present?!" Frank asked, intrigued.

"Never you mind" Joe harrumphed, pretending to be mortally insulted. He sniffed the air disdainfully and carefully presented an air of haughty indifference. He kept it up an entire 45 seconds before the now empty plastic cup whacked him on the head. "Hey, now! Watch the hair!"

Further abuse was forestalled by the timely arrival of Joe's bride to be. She was carrying a laptop case. Her first action was to kiss Joe before she turned to the patient and leaned over to give him a peck on the forehead. "How are you feeling?" she asked with a smile.

"He's picking on me." Frank pouted. "He threatened to take my present away." her giggle caused both men to smile in response.

"Doc Meadows says you'll be here a while, and I know how easily you get bored. So I figured the first thing you were going to ask for was some paperwork from the office to do." Joe reached into the laptop case and pulled out a vaguely familiar notebook. One with a bright pink cover and a cute white Japanese anime character. "Seeing as how I didn't get much use out of Hello Kitty myself when I was last laid up, I thought you could take notes with her yourself." Joe was the epitome of wide eyed innocence. "I even brought the matching pen." it was produced with a flourish.

Frank sighed. "I'm right handed, Joe."

"Yeah, so?" Joe was all earnestness but his sapphire blue eyes were sparkling with mischief.

Frank managed to get his right hand about an inch off the bed before giving in to the pain. He tried wiggling them, and got nowhere. "You might have noticed my my right hand is not in all that great a shape at the moment, Little Brother."

Joe pretended to notice that for the first time. "Huh, well whaddya know. Bummer, dude." Halloran smacked him across the back of the head.

"Be nice, he's an invalid." She reprimanded as she took the bed's controls and slowly raised Frank's head and torso to a less reclined position. She then took the laptop case out of Joe's hands and pulled out the contents, laying it on the small table and positioning it so that it lay over the bed in Frank's eye line.

"That's my laptop." Frank said, eyebrow raised as he looked at each of them. Halloran nodded and pulled out one more item, a headset, which she plugged into the laptop before setting the other end on Frank's ears. He sat there, nonplussed as the laptop was turned on and cycled through it's start up menu.

"Say 'Spider Solitaire'" Joe urged.

"Umm, 'Spider Solitaire?'" Frank said in a questioning tone and gasped as the appropriate program on his computer opened and the cards started shuffling and arranging themselves. A grin slowly spread over his face as the implications set in.

"It's voice activated software. I had Phil install it this afternoon." Halloran said, pleased at his response. "You are our Beta tester. It's for a client who needs it to be pretty intuitive as well as flexible."

"Now you can do all the paperwork your little heart desires without having to type or write a blessed thing." Joe enthused. "If it is as cool as the demo Phil gave, I may install it on mine too!"

"Wow, thanks, Hall!" Frank said. "This is great!" he immediately closed out the game and asked for a spreadsheet to open. He grinned like a little kid in a candy store who had just been told he could buy out the place.

"Glad you like it. Phil was eager to have you test it out anyway and this seemed like the perfect time to start." Halloran stepped back into Joe's embrace for a moment before declaring she needed to get back to the office. "Since I'll be leaving tomorrow for the rest of the week, I should at least pretend to balance the books." with a wave good bye to Frank, and long, lingering kiss for Joe, she left.

"Leaving?" Frank asked with a frown.

"The wake is tomorrow and the funeral the day after." Joe said soberly. "I am going with her, unless you need me to stay here."

"Oh." Frank sat there, shocked at the fact he had forgotten, or at least temporarily did. "Um, no, you should go. Give my condolences." He grew uncomfortable, absently chewing on his lower lip, something Joe hadn't seen him do in twenty years.

Joe sat down in the chair, pulling it closer. He gently lowered the laptop's screen and pried the headphones off his brother. "Hey." he said quietly, laying one hand on a knee. "You wanna talk about it?" He wasn't going to push, he hated when people did that to him, but the offer was sincere.

Frank took a deep breath, expelling it rather forcefully, so much so that the mask over his face clouded up momentarily. He reached up with his left hand and slowly pulled it down so that when he spoke, the words were clear. "Melody Harper saved my life."

**A/n:** _And so begins the redemption. When I made the decision to kill off Melody, I also decided to give her a few redeeming qualities as I felt she was turning into the anti Mary Sue. However I also decided that they were very well hidden, so much so that even her close friends and family would be unaware, hence Bruce's attitude. These will be further explored in later chapters, and hopefully she will be a little more sympathetic at that point. You are getting this early as later on this week I am going out of town, and it was either get this finished and up early, or have you all wait twice as long between updates. I am mean. I am not that mean. _


	14. Chapter 14

**A/n:** _ so, originally I wanted this to end a little further along, at the wake or even the funeral. but then I realized it had been way too dang long since an update, and I didn't want y'all to forget me. and since the Cherry Blossoms are in like Peak Bloom tomorrow, guess who is spending the day in DC?! Oh, and Doctor Who starts in 30 minutes and if you think I am gonna miss that just to write some more, y'all are crazy. so, I took a lull and stopped. __  
_

**Chapter Fourteen**

Joe sat back, stunned into speechlessness. "Yer kidding me." He finally sputtered. Frank shook his head.

"Not something I would kid about." He responded.

"I think maybe you need to start at the beginning. Hell, why not play with your new toy and kill two birds with one stone. Special Agent Connelly will be here in a day or so to get your full report."

"Probably not a bad idea, but you could you refill my cup first?" Frank was a study in innocence as he made the request. "Throat is still a bit sore and this could take a while."

"Well maybe you shouldn't have dumped it all over your favorite brother than, huh?!" Joe grumped as he stood up and grabbed the offending piece of plastic. "Be right back." He stepped out into the hallway, where he asked the Nurse what Frank could have. He got his answer, and returned with a pitcher full of ice water and a straw stuck into the new lid on the cup. "You have graduated beyond ice chips you lucky dog."

"Thanks. Now what did you mean Connelly was coming?"

"Ah. That." Joe plopped into the chair and tried to make himself comfortable, failing miserably. "Welp, while you were being poked, prodded and fussed over earlier, I got a phone call from him. Seems the evidence I acquired the other day hit the jackpot."

"Evidence?" Frank frowned as he attempted to rearrange his headset, only to give up, forcing Joe to do it for him.

"Yeah. Bruce and I got great descriptions of our Mystery Men, and the waitress still had a hundred dollar bill that was given to her as a tip. So I swapped it out for some twenties, took her fingerprints to exclude and sent everything off to Sam, who passed it along to the Feds. Fingerprints came back to a 'Person of Interest' in Connelly's drug manufacturing case the next county over. Obviously they are fairly certain you found the location of the manufacturing..." Joe trailed off.

"You could say that yeah." Frank grimaced as he shifted a little, trying to get comfortable. His hiss of pain was not lost on Joe, who frowned a little.

"You want me to get a Nurse?" he asked in concern.

Frank shook his head. "Nahh, it only hurts when I move my arms, and I need to be clear headed to write my report." he insisted.

"If you say so" Joe remained skeptical. "You don't have to do this immediately ya know. I _can _ wait. And I am sure Connelly will be fine with just your testimony. You should be resting."

"Joe, I need to do this. To set the record straight. Might as well be efficient while I am at it. Like you said, two birds with one stone." Frank verbally requested a new text document to be opened and began his tale, not really speaking to Joe at all, but rather narrating to himself.

_**Flashback**_

_We approached the old sawmill cautiously, despite having observed the two known occupants leaving ten minutes earlier. The door had been recently rehung with new hinges, and also received a new lock. Melody stood back while I picked the locked and eased the door open. Inside it was remarkably clean, very little dust or general detritus. Anything that looked like it was leftover from the sawmill days was piled in a few corners, leaving the main space open._

_I observed three large tables situated on the center of the room, all set up with the various equipment needed to produce Methamphetamine. It was obvious that a batch was currently cooking, which I suppose could explain why the other two left. We took their example and did not approach. Instead, I told Melody to go along one wall looking for clues, while I went in the opposite direction. I instructed her to look for papers, files, anything that did not belong in an abandoned sawmill, or that looked like it was new. _

_We each circled the room, going slowly but methodically. Neither one of us spoke louder than a whisper, so any loud noise made me jump. Eventually, we met on the far side of the room. I had found a few small items, mainly cigarette wrappers and receipts from the diner in Calverton. Melody had not fared any better, although she did have an empty lighter, which she assured me she picked up by the top only. _Here Frank left out the part where Melody's voice had been positively dripping with sarcasm as she spoke, and he also failed to mention the sneer on her face as she dropped it into the small plastic bag he produced.

_We were approaching the 60 minute deadline I had given Mitch, so I decided to head back. I pulled out my smartphone and took a few hi res pictures of the Meth lab tables. Also took photos of the finished product, which was stacked neatly in a corner as well as a few wide angle shots of the entire set up. I must have lost track of my position, because I stepped back and jostled one of the tables. _Frank paused here, closing his eyes. When he failed to continue right away, Joe gasped as the implications set in. He reached for his brother, only to pull back in remorse as he saw the grimace of pain on Frank's face as he jostled the arm.

_**End Flashback**_

"Frank?!" Joe cried in alarm. "Oh, god I'm sorry, did I hurt you?!" Frank shook his head, but his eyes were still scrunched in pain and he was gasping a little. Joe stood up and carefully replaced the oxygen mask over his brother's face. He hovered, torn between running out to the Nurse's station, and not leaving his brother alone for even a second.

"'m fine, gimme a sec." Frank wheezed softly, his voice muffled by the mask. A few anxious minutes later and he opened his eyes and smiled at Joe. "See, no worries." he drew a deep breath, slowly, and reached up to remove the mask, very gently using his left arm, which was the least damaged.

"She yelled a warning, then pushed me out of the way. Shoved really. I never believed those stories about a single drop of sweat setting off an explosion. I do now." He smiled sourly. "She'd have made a terrific defensive tackle. I must have flew back a dozen feet. She took the brunt of the blast. If I was any closer, I'd be dead." the smile faded and his voice grew somber. "Joe, I owe her my life. She was a pain in the ass and I wanted to throttle her on more than one occasion. I still want to throttle her." Frank's voice was full of frustration and remorse.

"Yeah, well right now, I love Melody Harper. If it weren't for her, you wouldn't be sitting here right now, and for that, I can forgive anything." Joe said fiercely. "We can be mad at her for getting herself killed later." Joe sighed deeply as he leaned back into the hard plastic chair. "Hall's gonna want to know what Mel did. I'm just worried that will make her even more upset with herself." he spoke quietly, half to himself.

"Make sure Bruce does too." Frank urged. "When he was in here earlier he was apologizing to me about her. I couldn't explain the truth with the tube down my throat."

"I will. I'll even put in a good word with her bosses if it will help. And her family deserves to know she died a hero." Joe looked at his watch. "Damn. I should go, I have a ton of stuff to do. But..." he stopped, obviously not wanting to leave his brother alone.

"I'm fine. A little tired, if you must know, and maybe, if I were to be pushed into a confession, in some pain. I would not turn down some pain killers or a sedative. Which means I'm about to be very boring company."

"Since when are you _not_ boring Big Brother?" Joe teased as he stood up. He laughed at the dirty look he got but made no further snide comments. "I'll send in a Nurse on my way out. I am sure Mom and Dad will be by later anyway. If I don't see you before we take off for Calverton in the morning, good luck on the first session." Joe shuddered in remembrance. Last time he was in this very room, he overheard the teenager in the next room getting debridement after their car caught on fire. He had been in pain himself too often to count, but the sounds of that kid screaming almost caused him to lose his lunch. He was rather grateful he had an excuse to not be around while Frank was going to be subjected to the same thing. And then he flushed with remorse at the thought. If Frank saw, he either failed to consider the implications, or misunderstood them, as he said nothing other than goodbye.

Joe stopped by the Nurse's station as promised and let them know Frank was asking for some relief. They assured that a prescription was already on file and that a morphine drip would be set up shortly. Joe thanked them and took off down the back hallways to his car.

The Nurse came in and settled Frank, setting up the morphine and instructing the patient how to use the apparatus, warning him that it was programmed to stop releasing medicine once a threshold had been met. She was unaware that it was far more likely that Frank would not administer enough, he had always been leery of anything stronger than aspirin, and he still remembered Joe's reaction when he had been weaned off it a couple of years ago. He smiled and thanked her, and asked that if anyone came to see him other than his parents, to let them know he was resting and he'd see them at a later time.

Instead of going straight home, Joe found himself driving to his parents. He was conflicted about a few things and needed some wisdom from his father. When he pulled into the driveway, he heard the lawnmower going in the back yard, so he headed straight through the house to the deck, stopping only long enough to pour two tall glasses of iced tea. His father was perched on the riding mower at the far end of the yard, nearly at the small copse of trees that had served as forest, fortress and other assorted fancies when he and his brother were kids. Joe sat down in one of the deck chairs and waited until Fenton made his way back. As soon as he saw his youngest, he waved, but continued his task, having only one more pass to make.

Fenton shut off the mower and leaped nimbly off, accepting the glass Joe handed to him as he sat down himself. "I assume nothing is wrong with your brother? Otherwise you wouldn't be so relaxed." He commented.

"Yeah, he's fine. In some pain, but fine. He said he was going to rest. He told me what happened." Joe fidgeted with his glass, running a finger over the rim while frowning slightly.

"Oh?!" the (mostly) retired Private Investigator responded. He was curious but also respected his sons' privacy.

Joe sighed deeply and took a long drink of tea before blurting out the whole story before finishing with his admission that he was feeling guilty.

"Guilty?" Fenton was astonished. "Joseph, whatever for?!"

"For wanting to be with Hall and at the same time not wanting to leave Frank." Joe explained. "She's grieving something fierce, and is pretty vulnerable right now. Once again, she's lost somebody she loved. She's also feeling guilty herself for not making up with Melody. And on the other hand, I can't justify leaving Frank. He's always there for me when I am the one stuck in the hospital. And even though he said he was fine with it, I still feel bad about going, not being there while he's recovering."

"Ahh." Fenton said noncommittally, realizing what the problem was. "Your loyalties are divided, aren't they?"

"That about sums it up, yeah." Joe was despondent.

"Do you remember when you were getting your physical therapy? And how you wouldn't let Frank be there? Why was that?"

"Other than the fact that he was hovering and it annoyed the hell out of me?!" Joe's laugh was self mocking. He did, however, consider a bit before continuing. "I didn't want him to see me like that. Plus I really wasn't looking forward to the pity and pain in his eyes."

"Ever consider the feeling might be mutual?" Fenton asked. "Plus, Son, your priorities are changing. Your primary responsibility is to Halloran now. As it should be. Don't make the same mistakes I did."

"Mistakes? You?!" Joe was skeptical.

"Yes, me. Your mother, and later on, your brother, did a masterful job of hiding my flaws when it came to family and my obligations. Family is more important than anything else."

"That's just it, Dad! Frank _is_ my family, and for a lot longer than I have known Halloran."

"True. But the love is quite different, isn't it?" Fenton pointed out.

"I certainly hope so!" Joe quipped with his usual sarcasm. Fenton smiled at the jest.

"I mean, you can hold on to your loyalty to your brother without being glued to his side every step of his recovery. Here's another perfect chance for the two of you to expand on your leading separate lives thing. If I recall correctly, it wasn't so long ago you were pretty insistent about that." His father reminded him.

Joe sat back, digesting the words. "I just, I dunno, feel like I need to be in two places at once."

"There is this really wonderful thing, a new fangled contraption called a cell phone." Fenton's eyes sparkled with mischief. "Perhaps you have heard of it? Why some of the really fancy ones let you see the person you are talking to." his grin grew broader even as Joe's face grew more disgusted until finally the two of them collapsed in laughter together.

They were still chuckling when Laura came out onto the deck, still wearing her jacket. "What's so funny?" she smiled, accepting kisses from both men.

"Nothing Mom, just a little levity is all." Joe assured her as he followed her back into the kitchen as Fenton went to put the lawn mower away. The blond son refused her offer of dinner, claiming he still had to pack for the trip the next day. With a final goodbye to both he got into the car and headed home, but not before calling to see what Hall's plans were for dinner.

"I require fried chicken. Mild, dark meat. Cole slaw and mashed potatoes. And don't forget the honey for biscuits!" the petite black haired love of his life ordered in a non nonsense voice as soon as he asked.

"Yes, Dear" Joe chuckled as he diverted to the nearest Popeye's. It was busy, being dinner hour, so it took a while to get his order, but eventually he was back on the road, armed with Halloran's request and his own preferred spicy tenders and cajun fries. They ate quietly, each still battling their inner demons and not wanting to burden the other with their woes.

Joe contented himself with a phone call to his brother after dinner. Frank sounded like he had just woken up so Joe didn't keep him long but promised to call every day until he returned. Halloran also got on the line to add her good wishes as well. After dinner, they tidied up; Joe took out the garbage while Halloran did a load of last minute laundry. Once all that was done, they each packed a small suitcase before relaxing in front of the TV with some wine. It was then that Joe told her everything Frank had said earlier in the day. She took the news remarkably calmly, although the rest of the evening she was very moody and despondent. Joe talked her into turning in early, couching the suggestion under the guise of needing to get on the road first thing in the morning. Her sleep was restless and as a result, Joe's was too although he managed to doze off a little after 2 am.

The alarm came all too early, and much too loudly but after a token groan, they both got up. They showered together, and were only slightly distracted during the soaping up part. Joe loaded the car while Hall poured the equivalent of two pots of coffee into the thermal carafes. She had made banana nut muffins the night before so they munched on those as soon as they hit the highway. Joe was an hour outside of Bayport before he realized he had never called his brother. "Oh Hell!" he swore at himself, as he fumbled to switch the hands free device on. "Sorry, Bro! Just got caught up in stuff! Have a good night?"

"_I slept. I won't say I slept well but I did sleep_" came Frank"s tired voice over the airwaves. "_I am fine, I just dosed myself and the Nurses say breakfast is extra special today. Which probably means they put honey on the oatmeal or something._"

Joe laughed, knowing Frank hated oatmeal more than anything. And as far as he was concerned, honey was for putting in tea, not drizzled on oatmeal. "Poor baby. Word of caution, don't order the grits by mistake. Those are actually worse than the oatmeal. Trust me on this."

"_Thanks for the warning. I feel so loved. Now hang up and drive you nut_."

"Bluetooth, Mister Paranoia. Besides, Hall's steering" he winked over his shoulder to his bride to be, who was hard pressed to stifle a giggle.

"_Oh yeah, that makes me feel so much better._"

"Love you too, Big Brother!" Joe chortled. "I'll call you after lunch some time, once we get settled. And good luck today." he disconnected before Frank could respond.

"Good luck? What for?" Halloran asked.

"He's supposed to get his first debridement today. It's gonna suck big time." Joe replied. "And yes, I am okay with not being there. Mostly. Priorities. Always you, no matter what. And yes I am okay with that too, so no feeling unworthy or any of that crap." he glared at her sideways before reaching over and grabbing her hand tightly. The rest of the drive passed quickly and just before lunch they were pulling into the driveway of the small house that Bruce and Mitch called home.

**A/n: **_The first hints that Melody was not as evil or unlovable as she appeared to be, with more revelations coming later. _ _The boys have some old habits to get away from, such as the hovering and insistence that they can be the only ones to offer comfort to the other. But yes, even they can be trained. _


	15. Chapter 15

**A/n:** _don't get used to seeing updates so quick. this is more of an interlude before moving forward with the story. Don't mind the repetition..._

**Chapter Fifteen**

Frank Hardy was having a really bad day. It had started off innocently enough, being woken up early( even for him) by the friendly night nurse who plumped his pillows, changed the dressings on his arms and fiddled with the morphine drip, which, of course, was still remarkably full. The Nurse also helped him stand up and shuffle his way into the bathroom, where he was able to take care of business mostly embarrassment free. After being helped back into bed, the nurse told him breakfast was scheduled to be served in about an hour. "And it's extra special today!" He proclaimed merrily as he tucked the light blanket over Frank's legs.

Frank merely grunted noncommittally and idly wondered out loud if it was possible to get coffee sooner rather than later. The nurse said he'd try and get some after he made the rest of his rounds. After a cheery wave goodbye, the nurse disappeared out the door and left Frank to his own devices. He spent a few minutes trying to shift into a more comfortable angle so he could fire up his laptop, which thankfully was still on the little rolling table. He put on his headset with a lot less pain and stiffness than the other day and he was soon cursing the slow WiFi connection as loudly as Joe ever would. He was champing at the bit waiting for his email to download, when the phone next his bed rang. "_Sorry Bro! Just got caught up in stuff. Have a good night?_"

"I slept. I won't say I slept well but I did sleep" He responded tiredly. "I am fine, I just dosed myself and the Nurses say breakfast is extra special today. Which probably means they put honey on the oatmeal or something." he groused.

"_Poor baby_." Joe's voice came laughing over the line. "_Word of caution, don't order the grits by mistake. Those are actually worse than the oatmeal. Trust me on this_."

"Thanks for the warning. I feel so loved. Now hang up and drive you nut." Frank admonished with a laugh.

"_Bluetooth, Mister Paranoia. Besides, Hall's steering_" came the rejoinder.

"Oh yeah, that makes me feel so much better." Frank shook his head in mock dismay.

"_Love you too, Big Brother! I'll call you after lunch some time, once we get settled. And good luck today._" and before Frank could respond, he hung up. Frank chuckled a little, shaking his head in affection as he pictured the cheesy smirk he was certain his younger brother was sporting.

Right about then was when Frank's day started rolling downhill. Breakfast was indeed the most loathed oatmeal, and of course it was positively dripping with honey, so much so that it had oozed over the side of the bowl and dribbled onto the napkin, causing it to be completely useless. The coffee was burnt, and he suspected it was decaf, which was not going help his headache any, as he knew full well it was caffeine induced. The banana at least wasn't pre sliced and in the oatmeal, but it was brown and mushy, more suitable for Aunt Gertrude's banana nut muffins and not as a finger food. He half heartedly pushed things around with the spoon, taking only a couple of token bites, before deciding he really wasn't that hungry after all. Besides the latest dose he had allowed himself was starting to kick in and he was getting a little sleepy. He shoved everything away and tried napping, but the day shift arrived, and tut tutted over the full tray of food and the mostly full IV bag.

Frank tried to accept the scolding gracefully, but he snapped at the nurse peevishly when she kept on and on about not eating and wasting perfectly good food. She of course, got offended and stalked out of the room in a huff, causing Frank to sigh in remorse. He was still grumpy when his mother stopped by although the mood lightened considerably when he beheld the basket full of cinnamon muffins she brought along. All it took was an offhand comment about the coffee issue and she was on her cell phone telling her husband to swing by Starbuck's on his way in.

The respite was short lived, though. Not five minutes after his father had made his way in to say good morning and provide a proper cup of coffee, the debridement team came in and shooed them out. To add to the annoyance, one of them also took the coffee cup out of his hand _and_ set the muffins out of reach. He _really_ protested when another nurse switched the morphine drip to high and continuous. "I don't need that right now!" he exclaimed.

The nurse just smiled sadly at him as she gently forced his arm back down. "You will, dear. Trust me." Meanwhile, the other one was busy setting up some sort of tray with several instruments that Frank took one look before gulping nervously and resolutely turning his face away. Just as he thought the suspense was too much to bear, the doctor walked in already gowned and masked.

"Are we ready for our first session?!" she chirped merrily. Obviously she had plenty of coffee and a decent breakfast. Frank hated her at that moment.

Ten minutes later, he was ready to kill Dr Meadows in cold blood. Idly, he wondered in that remote part of his brain that had been shunted off to vagueness by the morphine just how bad it really would have been if the nurse had listened to his protestations earlier and not drugged him to high heaven. It took two nurses to hold him down and still as Dr Meadows as delicately as she could removed the dead tissue from his right arm. The entire time, everyone kept up a soft litany of reassurance, comfort and encouragement, but Frank barely heard any of it. He had been in pain before, from various minor and major injuries, but this, this was indescribable. It hurt too much to scream. Frank was sure he was going to pass out from lack of oxygen as he could hardly stand to take a breath. After an eternity, Dr Meadows straightened up and removed the mask and gown.

"Frank?" she spoke a little forcefully, trying to get him to pay attention. "Are you with us?"

He turned glassy eyes in her direction and attempted to focus on her face, but all he managed was an intense interest in her name embroidered above the pocket on her lab coat. "Mmpf." was about the most intelligent thing he managed to get out.

"I'll take that as a 'Maybe'." she smiled. "You did very well, much better than most patients do their first time." The notion did not fill him with any joy whatsoever. "However, I don't want to push you too far, so we'll wait a day or so before picking up where we left off. I am going to give you a heavy sedative so you can get some real rest. Your parents said they'd wait, do you want to see them?"

He managed a weak nod and a raspy affirmative, so one of the nurses went to fetch them as the other one cleaned up while the doctor stuck a syringe into his line. In seconds there was blissful relief and he smiled dreamily as the pain receded into a dull ache. His sigh was impressive and the doctor smiled at the sound in sympathy. She turned and met the elder Hardys as they rushed in, cautioning them in a low voice that Frank had had a pretty rough session and it was best to just let him sleep it off. She did, however, reassure the anxious parents that everything looked good and that he was responding well to treatment. "I suggest that we wait at least 48 hours before doing another session, to give him a chance to recover. He's going to be pretty loopy, I maxed out his morphine drip and gave him a pretty heavy sedative." She cautioned them in a low voice. Laura's eye's tightened, and Fenton frowned, but both of them nodded before coming further into the room.

Laura sat in the lone chair, while Fenton paced back and forth. Frank tried to hold a meaningful conversation, but it was to no avail and after less than half an hour, his parents decided to give it up as a lost cause. "We'll be by for dinner, dear. You get some rest." Laura leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. Frank was too far gone and didn't even acknowledge.

The next time Frank was aware of his surroundings , he noted several things. First, he realized that it was dusk and the room was bathed in shadows. Then he became all too aware of the incessant throbbing in his right arm. He groaned softly and grimaced in pain. Vaguely he heard the 'click' of the morphine drip being activated. He turned his head and barely opened his eyes to mere slits. When he didn't fully recognize the figure standing over him, he instantly became hyper aware, sitting up in alarm.

"Woah there Tiger, take it easy." the woman said as she gently shoved him back down on the bed. "I just gave you the minimal dose. You looked like you could use it."

Still slightly out of it, Frank mumbled "Are you a nurse?"

"Yes. Well sort of. And I am hurt your don't recognize me." she pouted prettily. "Here I brought you goodies and everything. I have half a mind to eat them all myself just to spite you!"

Frank took a deep breath, and made himself not only calm down, but focus. "Gloria?!" he finally gasped out in astonishment.

"For that, you get a cookie!" Gloria said brightly as she pooped a snickerdoodle in his mouth pulled from the small bag she carried. "Joe said they were your favorite. I couldn't scam any milk though, the cafeteria is closed for the night and the nurses here keep half and half in their fridge for the coffee." She looked very pleased with herself as she settled back in the chair and regarded him with a sly smile.

Still confused, Frank concentrated on chewing. Snickerdoodles were his favorite cookie and damned if the one he was currently swallowing wasn't the best one he had ever eaten, and that included Aunt Gertrude's. "Umm, not to sound rotten or anything, but what are you doing here?!"

"I start my clinicals next week and there just happened to be a few openings at Bayport General in the Oncology Ward. So I came down for my interview." she declared. "Although I might be tempted into requesting the Burn unit, if somebody played their cards right." Gloria smirked prettily.

Flummoxed, Frank looked at her with that 'deer in the headlights' look until she laughed, taking pity on his obvious unease. "Kidding. Have another cookie."

"Seriously, I don't want to be here in a professional capacity. I see firsthand how they happen, and having to go beyond that into treatment and recovery, I'd probably lose my lunch on an hourly basis. At least with chemo, the only obvious sign is baldness for the most part. But I promise to visit every day if you will let me..." she trailed off, letting the unspoken plea speak for itself.

Strangely, once he had gotten over his initial panic, probably born of too many bad guys trying to do unspeakable things to him while he was out of it, and his typical unease around anything overtly flirty directed at him, he found himself seriously considering the offer. "You keep me supplied in snickerdoodles, and it's a deal." he smiled.

The return smile caused Frank's heart to beat a little wildly, something he had not experienced in a decade. The next several hours, which flew by impossibly fast to his chagrin, were spent getting to know one another. It was actually nice to talk about anything except his injuries, or the job, and just discuss normal things like study habits in college and surviving on a student's income. Frank gave her some advice about temporary housing in Bayport, even offering up the contact information if his landlord, who might be amenable to a short term lease. For her part, Gloria regaled him with tales from the fire station and recounted a few of the more outrageous pranks she and her fellow Nursing students had gotten up to.

Eventually, though, the same nurse who woke Frank up that morning came in and apologetically shooed Gloria out as visiting hours were over. After getting a promise to return the next morning "With real coffee!" she said goodnight. Another session of pillow plumping and a trip to the bathroom, and Frank was settled in for the night, although he did call his parents and his brother, having missed both of their calls earlier as he slept off the effects of the day's debridement session. As he shut off the small bed lamp and began drifting off to sleep, Frank mused that it wasn't such a bad day after all.

**A/n: **_ That wasn't so bad, now, was it? _


	16. Chapter 16

**A/n:** _a quick shout out to Vinsmouse! I totally used her for Muse-ness even though she had no idea I did. so thanks,Mouse, for telling me your story so I could incorporate it into mine. this chapter is a bit longer and actually almost moves the story forward a teeny little bit. Oh, and Joe lands in hot water._

**Chapter Sixteen**

Joe Hardy hated wakes. Granted, he hadn't been to very many; most of the dead people in his life tended to be dead because they were the bad guys. But there were a couple that stood out as particularly painful. The first was when he was about 4, not quite old enough to understand, but old enough to know something bad had occurred. He was very confused when he saw Grandma crying, and his innocent questions about Grandpa was only made her cry harder and hug him very tightly. His parents had elected to not show him the coffin, or try to explain too much about what death was, so for months afterward he would occasionally ask when they'd see Grandpa again. It was Frank who finally, clumsily, tried to explain that Grandpa was never coming back. For a six year old, he did a lousy job that only confused the little blond boy who so resembled his grandfather. So eventually, Fenton had taken young Joey to the cemetery and showed him where Grandpa Miller was laid to rest. A year later, he was at another wake, this time for Grandma Miller. He understood by then what being dead really meant, and he was much more upset about it.

Over the next decades, he would attend a few more. Old family friends of his parents, old colleagues of his father's. These mostly just made him uncomfortable, especially when he was fussed over and strange old ladies who smelled funny exclaimed how big he was getting, or that he was going to be a heartbreaker. He'd break free as soon as he could and find a spot in the back somewhere with Frank and amuse themselves by testing each others' observational skills.

By far the worse was when he was seventeen. Iola. He was so in love with her it was disgusting. Unfortunately, he was also a horny teenaged boy who flirted with everything female so it looked like he was a insensitive lout to the casual observer. It took the combined efforts of their entire gang to get him to go to the wake and later, the funeral. Biff and Frank stayed glued to his side the entire time, tight grips on each arm. He honestly remembered almost nothing about the entire ordeal, having blocked it from his memory deliberately.

He never made it to Aunt Gertrude's. He could have requested emergency leave, and possibly justified it, claiming that Aunt G raised him, and to an extent, she had, but at the time he just wasn't ready to face his father yet. Instead, he wired a huge bouquet of her favorite flowers to the funeral home.

So here he was at yet another wake, this time for a person he honestly disliked a little, but still felt an overwhelming gratitude for as well as his deep seated need to support his fiancee'. He was content to stay in the background, with Mitch, as Bruce and Halloran made the rounds. Each paid close attention to their love, ready at a moment's notice to move in if the need arose. Overly weepy aunts, for instance. Melody's mother was a complete wreck; and her father, well, after three minutes Joe knew _exactly_ where Melody had gotten her attitude from. He was busy blaming the Park Service , the fire department and the universe, and of absolutely no help to his grieving wife. That left Bruce to pick up the pieces. Joe rescued him when he came over, introduced himself and explained to her in a low voice what Melody had done to save his brother's life. At least he got her to stop wailing at the top of her lungs every three seconds, although that was replaced by a constant sniffling that only made him want to shove a box full of Kleenex in her hands and run away.

Halloran was faring little better, as an old family friend she was busy being interrogated by people she hadn't seen in years but apparently still remembered her vividly. It became too much when one old busybody demanded to know where her "Handsome brother was, such a nice young man!" This time, it was Mitch who was nearby and heard the exchange so he swiftly interrupted, declaring he absolutely could _not _finish the arrangements for the reception after the funeral tomorrow without Halloran's input and would Mrs Langley kindly let him borrow her for a minute? Without waiting for an answer, he took Hall by the upper arm and delivered her into Joe's tight embrace.

"Want to leave?" he asked her softly, feeling her trembling in his arms. She nodded, head against his chest, unable to look in his face. "You stay put, and I will go find Bruce and let him know." he shoved Halloran into a hideously floral patterned victorian arm chair that seemed to populate every funeral home in the country and went off in search of his friend.

He found him trying to talk down Melody's father. "Uncle Lee, I told you what happened, there was no conspiracy!" Bruce sounded at the end of his patience.

"I am telling you, she was led into a trap! If I ever lay eyes on that damned no good civilian I will break his legs!"

Joe got there in time to hear the whole thing. Despite the atmosphere and the solemnity due the circumstances, he couldn't help himself. "Mr. Harper." Joe seethed in a low voice so that no one else could hear. "That 'no good civilian' is my brother, a Licensed Private Investigator working on the case under the direct request of the FBI. _Your daughter_ was the one who was where she wasn't supposed to be, in violation of _her_ direct orders. And the only reason the Park Service **and** the FBI aren't making things more difficult than they already are because Melody sacrificed her life saving my brother. Frank is alive because of her, and I am damned grateful for that. But that does not, nor will it ever, change the fact that Melody disobeyed not only her bosses, but the Federal Government as well. For the sake of your wife, I left out that part when I told her of your daughter's bravery. But the fact is, Mr Harper, if she wasn't so damned stubborn, pigheaded and obstinate, she'd still be alive. My fiancee' would still have her best friend, and you'd still have a daughter. I am sorry for your loss, but don't you dare go around placing blame where it does not belong!" He turned to Bruce, ignoring the apoplectic rage that suffusing Lee Harper's face. "Hall's had enough for one day. I am taking her out of here."

Bruce nodded, pulling out his keys. "We were going to invite you to stay the night anyway. Spare bedroom is the last door on the left. Put a pot of coffee on." Bruce neatly stepped around his still purple faced uncle and walked Joe over to Halloran and then to their car. "I know we aren't supposed to speak ill of the dead, especially at their wake, but thanks for that. Uncle Lee is rather..closed minded.. about some things. Melody could do no wrong in his eyes. But even Aunt Maggie knows better. I'm glad you told her the good parts."

Once back at the ranch style house that Bruce and Mitch shared, Halloran decided to lay down for a bit, claiming stress and exhaustion had worn her out. Joe tucked her in before softly closing the door and making the coffee as ordered. He was idly flipping through channels when the men returned.

"Hey, Man, I am sorry for what I said earlier. It wasn't the time or the place." Joe tried to apologize. Bruce, however, was having none of it.

"Forget it. It was refreshing to see somebody call Uncle Lee out on his blindness. And only a perfect stranger could have gotten away with it. None of the family has been able to get him to admit a thing. Mel was the Golden Child. Drove LJ away for good after high school."

"LJ?" Joe asked, accepting a cup of coffee from Mitch with a nod of thanks.

"Lee Junior. Mel's older brother. Three sport athlete, 4.0 GPA, full ride to Johns Hopkins all the way through med school. Uncle Lee never even came to a single game. Was too busy fawning over Mel." Bruce snorted with contempt.

"Wow. Alluvasudden my dad missing a few games because he was on a case doesn't seem so bad."

"Hmpf. I loved Melody, she was family, but most of the time, I didn't like her." Bruce snorted.

"Please, can we talk about something else?!" Halloran begged as she came into the living room. "I get it, everybody hated Melody. But I didn't. And I am tired of listening to people bad mouth her." her voice was angry and full of tears. Immediately Joe felt like a heel and rushed over to her, pulling her close and apologizing. Even Bruce looked a little abashed and for the rest of the evening, the topic of Melody Harper was off limits.

Joe continued to behave the entire next three days, even apologizing to Lee Harper about his earlier comments in front of Halloran. The funeral was packed, and both he and Bruce managed to successfully curb their feelings and failed to rise to anyone's bait when it came to gossip. He kept his comments factual and refused to get sucked into any discussion of Melody's less palatable personality traits. Of course the end result was he had a constant tension headache that threatened to drive him insane. He was beyond grateful when the ordeal was over and they packed the car for the return trip. Halloran was still vaguely mad at him as well as dealing with her own headache so the drive back was nearly silent. They seldom had arguments that lasted more than a few hours, so the past couple of days of the cold shoulder was wearing on Joe's nerves. He had apologized, he had been extra nice and grovelly, he had even called his mother and asked for advice on how to best make it up to her. All to no avail. Halloran was holding a grudge, and until she was ready to forgive him, he was in the dog house. Sighing heavily, he got out of the car and went to the trunk to pull out their luggage as Halloran unlocked the front door.

"Do you need me to do anything? I thought maybe I'd go see Frank." Joe tried to sound nonchalant.

"No, that's fine, I was going to spend the afternoon doing laundry and then grocery shopping." her voice was no longer frigid, so he guessed that was a start. He made to kiss her on the lips, but she turned at the last second so that he hit her cheek instead. Considering that lately she hadn't even allowed that, he wasn't going to sulk. Not in front of her at least.

"Want me to bring dinner home?" he asked, hoping his offer to save her the chore of cooking would be acceptable as a peace offering and not be misconstrued as a blatant attempt to get into her good graces. Even though it totally was.

"Hmm. Yes, please. But no Pizza or burgers." She told him. He agreed, and this time, when he went to kiss her again, she didn't move away. Baby steps.

He called his brother and asked if there was anything he wanted as long as he was on his way over. "_No thanks, I got everything I need_." Frowning slightly at Frank's jovial tone, he dismissed it as a by product of the morphine. However, as he entered his brother's room about twenty minutes later, he realized with a start that it had nothing whatsoever to do with being hopped up on happy pills.

"Err, am I interrupting anything?!" Joe sputtered as he beheld the scene before him.

"Actually I was just about to leave as my break is over!" Gloria smiled brightly at him as she stood up from her position _on Frank's bed_. And then Joe could not believe his eyes. She leaned down _and kissed his brother on the lips._ He stood open mouthed as the kiss was _quite_ happily returned and barely got out of her way as Gloria left. He stood there a few moments more, staring at the door before turning around, shaking his head and muttering. "I can't leave you alone for a minute, can I?!" he said, half laughing. "Oh well, at least one of us is getting some."

"Whaddya mean?" Frank asked as he rearranged himself on the bed to be a little more centered.

"Oh just that I really screwed up is all. Forgot that Mel was Hall's best friend and I let my personal feelings override my better judgement." Joe sighed as he absentmindedly grabbed a snickerdoodle from the plate on the side table and munched. "She got sick of me and Bruce focusing on Mel's bad points all the time." he shrugged as he snagged another cookie. "Not like I don't deserve it."

"Anyway, enough about me for a change. When are you escaping?" Joe tried to steer the conversation to better topics.

"Soon, I hope. Dr. Meadows is talking first of the week if I am lucky."

"Hey, that's great, Bro!" Joe was happy for his sibling.

"Tell me about it. And what's even better is I won't need a skin graft at all on my left arm!" Frank quite proudly lifted the appendage, which Joe was rather shocked to see was no longer bandaged at all. Upon closer inspection, he realized that is was very shiny and extremely pink, like it was windburned. He looked up at his brother's face in astonishment.

"There's no scarring!" he exclaimed.

"I know. Isn't it great!" Frank grinned like he was twelve again and had just won his first Science Fair.

"How the hell did you manage that?!" Joe was flabbergasted.

"Gloria." was Frank's reply.

"Say huh?!" Joe was confused.

Frank reached up, this time with his right arm, and Joe noticed it wasn't nearly as painful or stiff as before. Frank pointed at a large plant sitting on the windowsill. It was short, with fat fleshy leaves that were slightly spiky along the edge. It reminded Joe of a cactus, but only vaguely. Several of the leaves had been broken off, and there was a viscous fluid dried along the breaks.

"It's an aloe vera plant. Gloria brought it the other day, and she convinced Dr Meadow to let her try an experiment." Frank said. "She broke off a leaf, split it in half then placed the open sides along my arm and left it there for a while. Two days later, and this is the result!" Frank waved the arm around again, clearly relishing the freedom and lack off stiffness and pain.

"Wow. Pretty cool. Didn't Aunt Gertrude have one of those in her bedroom?" Joe asked, peering closer at the plant.

"I think so, yeah. Whenever we scraped ourselves up pretty badly, I think she used to soak the gauze in the gel before putting it on." Frank confirmed. " Anyway, it worked great on my legs too, but you'll forgive me if you don't prove it to you." He grinned slyly.

"I trust you." Joe grinned back. "What about the other arm?" He pointed to the arm that was still heavily bandaged.

"One more debridement session, tomorrow, and then Dr Meadows will decide whether we go for a full graft, or let the plant work it's Mojo." Frank's happy go lucky demeanor faded a little at the mention of debridement. Joe grimaced in sympathy.

"That bad?" he asked

"You have no idea. I was ready to beg to be put in a medically induced coma the first time." Frank shuddered. "I was never so grateful a nurse ignored my wishes and doped me to high heaven. And I still needed to be knocked out afterward. Apparently I was completely loopy for hours afterward. Or so Dad says."

"Well, I am sure he took pics to embarrass you with at the next family reunion. Let me have another cookie and I'll find 'em and delete all records." Joe reached for another cookie. Frank laughed and pulled the plate away. "Get your own. Gloria made these for me!"

"Do I detect a bit of starlight in your eyes, Big Brother?!" Joe feigned astonishment. "I haven't seen you kiss anyone like that who wasn't a relation in years!" To his shock, the teasing failed to produce even the slightest blush on his brother's cheeks.

"I like her, Joe." was all he said as he shrugged his shoulders. "She's uncomplicated, undemanding, has a great sense of humor and she's smart as hell, too. What's not to like?"

"Well I'll be damned." Joe smiled, this time genuinely. "It's about time, Bro. You deserve it." Joe was happy for his brother. Too often over the years Frank had put his own feelings and desires on hold; it was time he was a little selfish. They spent an hour or so catching up, with Joe relating the family dynamic of the Harper Clan to the amusement and shock of his brother, and Frank detailed in all too gory specifics his adventures in debridement. "TMI, Bro." Joe shuddered. Frank just glared at him.

"Hey, at least you didn't have to be flayed alive." He pointed out.

"Umm, actually, Been There Done That. And might I remind you you had the benefit of really good pain killers. Me, not so much." Joe retorted with a laugh. It was easy to joke about it now. Frank just blew out an exasperated breath that was half laugh, half snort of derision. "Ugh" Joe groaned as he glanced at his watch. "I promised Halloran I'd bring dinner home. And I have no idea what to get, since she specifically banned my two favorite food groups."

"Pizza and beer?" Frank chuckled.

"Well Pizza at least. She also forbade Burgers." Joe sighed.

"So just get Italian. Tony's lasagna is decent."

"I am pasta'd out. Half the casseroles that were brought to share were some sort of pasta dish.. hot and cold. Maybe chicken..." Joe pondered.

"Chicken sounds good. Beats what I had for dinner. If it weren't for the daily supply of snickerdoodles, I'd have starved long ago." Frank sighed dramatically.

"As if Mom would let you starve." Joe scoffed. "But yeah, I really gotta go. Think I will spend all day in the office tomorrow too. Call if you need anything." he stood up and glided out of the room just as the nurse was coming in for a check.

On the drive home, he initially headed towards Popeye's but at the last second pulled into an adjoining shopping center and grabbed Boston Market instead. He was pulling into the driveway just as the street lights were flickering on. "Hey, babe. Rotisserie okay? Didn't really want fried. I got your favorite garlic spinach and my favorite sweet potato casserole." he called out as he entered the kitchen, depositing his purchase neatly on the table.

"Only if you didn't forget the cornbread..." Halloran chided as she pulled out glasses and cutlery.

"My sense of self preservation is _very_ well developed, Dear. I may be an idiot sometimes, but I am never suicidal." This time she not only let him kiss her, she returned it as well. (_Hmm, maybe I won't have to sleep on the couch after all_). Over dinner he told her all about Frank's remarkable recovery as well as the shocking announcement that he had apparently also gotten himself a girlfriend in the last few days. And when it came time for bed he was indeed welcomed into the King with open arms.

The next day dawned bright, although the weather forecast called for rain later. They tripped over each other trying to get ready for their respective jobs, with Hall just beating Joe into the shower with a laugh as she darted under his attempt to block her with a muscular arm. While she was showering, he made coffee and pancakes, studiously following the package directions. Halloran ate a couple, out of politeness, but it was obvious that Joe Hardy lacked the Pancake gene altogether and not even a 'just add water' mix could help. "Your talents lie in other things, Dear." she tried to console him as she scraped the tough doughy pucks into the garbage and grabbed a granola bar out of the pantry.

Joe admitted defeat and promised to never attempt pancakes again. "My digestive system thanks you." she teased as she grabbed her keys and headed out. Joe finished loading the dishwasher then headed upstairs to take his own shower. Dressing quickly he was out the door less than 20 minutes after Halloran.

Joe arrived at the office, and was dismayed at the huge pile of mail on his desk. He groaned as he dived in, hoping against hope there was enough coffee in the office to get him through the day. It took all morning to divvy it up into categories. He didn't even take a lunch, instead he had some subs delivered from the deli downtown. He spent the day paying bills, making phone calls, some to his brother to get some input, and generally doing all the detested and loathed business crap his brother was not only so much better at, but actually didn't mind. "I swear to gawd, when Frank is back at his desk I am taking two weeks off." he groused out loud to no one in particular.

Mid afternoon, Sam stopped by so Joe took a much needed break and got caught up with the status of the current cases the Agency was working on. When he discovered that all but one were pretty much done with any investigation, and just needed final reports written, he told Sam to take next week off. "I don't want to accept any more clients until Frank is at least back in the office, so you might as well relax while you can. Take Ethel on a trip or something." When asked about getting the reports written, Joe just got a glint in his eye.

"Your notes are as disgustingly detailed as Frank's are so he can earn his keep and write them up. Besides, he loves that new software thingy Phil ginned up for him." he assured the older man. "It'll give him something to do that won't tax his recovery. And best part is _**I**_ won't have to do them!" Sam was never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, and Ethel _had_ been hinting she wanted to visit her sister down in Florida. He gave a token show of resistance but capitulated very quickly. Joe laughingly shooed him out of the office with mock stern instructions to not return until the following Monday. "And you better have a tan!" he shouted at the retreating back.

The response was a laugh and backward wave as Sam left. Joe also chuckled to himself as he began piling all the notes and file folders into one stack before transferring them into his briefcase. Before he left the office, he called Halloran and told her he was going to the hospital to drop a few things off before heading home. Just as he was heading out, Special Agent Connely and his partner Agent Mayweather showed up.

"You guys really need to work on your timing." Joe grinned. "I was just on my way to see Frank."

"Then we timed it perfectly. We have news. Would be easier to tell you both at once." Connely was a model of innocence.

"Fine, then follow me to the Hospital." Joe ushered the men back out and locked the door behind him. He led the way to the hospital, repeating his earlier trick of pulling into the back lot and using the de facto employee entrance. As they arrived on the Burn unit ward, they were stopped by the Nurse at the desk.

"You'll have to wait a few minutes, I'm afraid. Dr. Meadows is running a little behind today so she is still in there." So Joe decided to head down to the cafeteria and get some coffee. Mayweather joined him and after killing some time, they were allowed into Frank's room. Immediately, Joe noticed that Frank was not nearly as relaxed as he had been the day before. His brother's face was pale, and a light sheen of sweat glistened on his brow. As he rushed closer, he also noted that Frank's arm was trembling.

"Frank?!" Joe cried, nearly bumping into the bed. Frank opened his eyes and Joe was shocked at the pain in them.

"Hey." He rasped out quietly. "I'll be fine, just give me a minute." Frank reached over and grasped his brother's hand and held on tightly for a minute before gradually releasing the tension. "See, it's started to kick in. All nice and mellow." he smiled, then for the first time noticed the two Federal Agents standing inconspicuously in the corner. Frank immediately let go, and tried to sit up straighter, attempting to hide his discomfort.

"We won't stay long, Frank, I know you need your rest." Connely spoke up. "But I thought you may want to be updated." He and his partner came closer, Mayweather pulling out a few sheets of paper from the briefcase he was carrying.

"Meet Carl Jackson, Bobby Masters and Gerald Maines." Mayweather handed over the mug shots. "Maines is the guy we have been after for months. The other two are the ones you saw leaving the Sawmill." Joe briefly looked at each picture before passing it to his brother, who nodded his head.

"Yeap. Those are definitely the two I saw exiting the sawmill before going in." He handed the pictures back. "Tell me you got them."

"Jackson and Masters, yes. Picked them up day before yesterday as they tried to sneak out of the Bed n Breakfast. Maines is still on the loose., but we have his face plastered everywhere. He won't take long to grab." Connely sat down in the single chair. "Frankly, we never would have gotten an ID if it weren't for you two. He's been in the shadows, literally and figuratively. But the fingerprints we pulled off that bill was the break we needed."

"Good. I'll let the waitress know she was instrumental in breaking the case wide open. She'll love that." Joe said, without his trademark sarcasm. He knew that Bernice really would bask in the knowledge that she helped catch a criminal.

The two Agents didn't stay much longer, but before they left they filled in a few details and promised to keep the brothers informed of any developments. After they left, Joe sat down in the recently vacated chair and looked his brother over with a critical eye. "I was going to make you do paperwork, but now I am not so sure." he said thoughtfully.

"What kind of paperwork?" Frank asked.

"Typing up Sam's reports and a few other small things. I paid all the bills today and sent out a bunch of invoices. All the time sensitive stuff." Joe still regarded his brother somberly. "But I think you need a nap more."

"Probably. But I'll be up all night anyway since I will have napped all afternoon. Might as well leave it, give me something to do in the middle of the night." Frank shrugged his shoulders. So Joe handed over the briefcase full of notes, going over each case quickly before taking the hint that was delivered in the form of successive yawns.

"If you have any questions, wait until the sun comes up before you call. Preferably _way_ up." Joe snarked as he left. Frank was already nodding off and made no acknowledgement at all.

Since he got home before Halloran did, a rarity most days, he decided he would start on dinner. He quickly tossed a few frozen steaks in a bath of warm water to thaw them out before dehusking a few ears of corn and seasoning them before wrapping in foil. Then he took two huge baking potatoes, and cut into slices, but without going all the way through the bottom. In between each slice he tucked a sliver of onion and a bit of butter before sprinkling salt and pepper over the whole thing and wrapping them in foil as well. He called Infotech and got an approximate time when his future wife was planning on leaving, and then timed the heating of the charcoal grill accordingly. He whipped up a light marinade for the steaks and soaked them until Halloran arrived, as they were only going to take about ten minutes to cook. They both liked their dead cow flesh a little on the rare side.

While he was fussing over the grill, Halloran made a quick apple cobbler that could bake while they ate dinner, and yet would still be warm when they were ready for dessert. They were sitting on the couch watching TV together when the sudden chiming of the doorbell shook them.

"What the hell?! It's after ten!" Joe exclaimed as he jumped up and headed to the door. "Who the hell could it be?!" he threw open the door, expecting maybe Greg Herndon, or his father. Not the flushed and excited face of Bruce Hathaway. Bruce was laden down with a large cardboard box which he shoved at Joe, who took it by reflex. Bruce pushed past the shocked blond, asking "Where's Hall?" without waiting for an answer. Joe was still standing stock still when Mitch also came huffing up the stairs carrying his own box. He just nodded, and swept past Joe, still standing there like an idiot.

He finally shook himself, kicked the door closed with a foot and followed the two men into the living room. He plopped the rather heavy box unceremoniously on the floor with a loud bang. Before he could say a word, Bruce grabbed Halloran by the shoulders and gently shoved her back into a seated position. He fell back into a chair with a dramatic flourish and looked up at Joe, who by now was starting to feel his temper.

"You are _**never**_ going to believe what I just found out!" Bruce cried out, sounding incredulous.

**A/n: **_ Different kind of cliffie, don't you agree? Why on earth would Bruce have driven a couple of hours at that hour of the night, and what is in those boxes?! Well I ain'ttelling. at least not until the next chapter..._


	17. Chapter 17

**A/n:** _woah. I gotta say this took a lot out of me. I hope I managed to do the subject matter justice. Without going into detail, let's just say that the emotions that Halloran is dealing with I have personal experience with. and like Joe, it took me a decade before I could open my box. Well, they say writing is cathartic..._

**Chapter Seventeen**

Joe stood there, mouth open. He glanced over at Mitch, who just shrugged his shoulders. "Don't look at me, I have no idea what's in the boxes. I'm just a pack mule."

Halloran was just looking confused, and struggled to contain a yawn. Joe was beginning to suspect something terrible was going on when Bruce appeared to suddenly realize the hour.

"Oh, Crap." he said with a sheepish look on his face. "I guess I just got so caught up over what I found that I didn't realize that it was so late."

"You could have called, you know." Joe pointed out mildly.

"See?!" Mitch burst out. "I _**told**_ you to call first to see if it was worth driving all this way in the middle of the night, especially since we both have to be at work in like, " and he glanced at his watch. "Six hours. And it's a 2 hour drive back." Mitch glared at his husband, who ducked his head in embarrassed silence.

"It's just.." he trailed off, looking at Halloran imploringly. "You were right, about being mad at me for saying the shit I did. It wasn't appropriate at all and I shoulda known better. So when I saw what was in the boxes I just had to bring them right away, to make up for the way I acted."

"Okay, now I am completely lost!" Joe fumed. Halloran nodded her agreement as well. Joe came around and sat next to Halloran, while Mitch went the other way around the couch and stood near Bruce. Bruce reached into the box and pulled out a sheaf of papers all bundled up with twine and handed them to the confused woman. She held them awkwardly, as if she had no idea what to do with them.

"Look at them closely, Hall!" Bruce encouraged. So she undid the bow and pulled the first one off the pile. It proved to be an envelope, fat with several sheets inside. It was addressed to Melody.

"Um, what am I missing?" she asked, bewildered.

"Look at the return address!" he responded.

She did so, still not understanding what she was seeing. Joe peered over her and remarked. "Okay, so that looks familiar." When she turned to him, still clueless, he shrugged. "It looks almost exactly like the address I had in the Navy. By the zip code, I'd say Okinawa though, not Japan."

It must have been way past her bedtime because Halloran still didn't get the connection or implications and even Joe wasn't sure what was going on. "Dude. Words of one syllable or less, please." he implored his friend.

Bruce reached over and gently took the pile back, pulling the contents out of the envelope. He shuffled the papers until the last sheet in the pile was on top before passing it back over. "Look at the signature." he suggested softly.

Halloran glanced quickly to the scrawl on the bottom of the page. She gave a gasp and lost control over everything, causing the slips of paper to scatter around her. She began to cry, throwing herself into Joe's startled arms. Bruce jumped up and rushed over to sit on her other side, leaning in and putting an arm around her shaking shoulders.

"What the hell, man?!" Joe shouted angrily at Bruce as he tried to console Halloran, although he had no idea why she was in hysterics to begin with.

"I didn't think she'd react like this!" Bruce protested as he sought to calm the distraught woman down. Nothing either of them seemed to get through to her, she was was sobbing so hard she couldn't breathe. Finally, Mitch went onto the kitchen, rummaged around until he found a glass and filled it with ice and tap water before returning to the living room. He silently handed the glass to Joe, who tried to get Halloran to take a sip.

"Honey, you have to calm down" Joe pleaded with her. Eventually the hiccups forced her to stop sobbing and she finally slowed down enough to take a long deep shuddering breath. Joe whispered over her head to Mitch "End of the hallway, in the bathroom, there's a box of Kleenex." Mitch nodded and soon returned with the tissues. Joe nodded his thanks and pulled a large wad out, presenting them in a messy bunch to his girlfriend. She took them and clumsily blew her nose. Bruce and Mitch picked up the scattered slips of paper and tried to reassemble them into order.

"Sweetheart?" Joe pleaded. "Talk to me, please." he begged. But she was too far gone, emotionally drained and as a result, physically exhausted. Incoherent, all she could do was cling to Joe as if she were drowning. Finally he just gave up; any semblance of conversation would have to wait. He stood up, scooped her up into his arms and brought her into the bedroom. Without even bothering to get her out of her clothes, he just slipped off her shoes and covered her with the comforter. He left her just long enough to slip into the bathroom, returning with a glass of water and an OTC sleeping pill. "Take this." he urged her gently. "It will help calm you down and sleep. We'll talk about it tomorrow when you are calmer." He stayed with her until she succumbed to sleep, which was a matter of minutes.

Out in the living room, Bruce was pacing like a caged animal. Mitch was vainly trying to get his husband to sit down. As soon as he saw Joe, though, Bruce got even more agitated. "I swear to you I never would intentionally upset Halloran!" He pleaded, anguish evident.

Joe sighed. "I know, Pal, but she's a complete wreck anyway." the anger was still there, although it was fading. He could tell that Bruce was extremely upset at the reaction he got, so he found it hard to keep the emotion running full tilt. But he still harbored a little resentment at the fact that she did react as badly as she did. Anything that caused Halloran pain was the enemy.

He moved further into the room, and grabbed a pile of letters. Taking the same one that Halloran had earlier opened, he too went to the final page and read the signature. "_Mark_?!" he gasped. "As in _Hall's brother _Mark?!" he continued, incredulous. He then took the time to read the last few lines of the letter. "All my love?!" He looked in shock at the two men before him. "Are these _love letters_?!" he sat back, stunned at the revelation.

"Looks like, yeah. I only read the latest. It's postmarked about 2 weeks before he was killed."

"Well I am certainly not going to read them, that's for sure." Joe looked faintly green at the thought of doing so. He yawned, then pointedly looked at the grandfather clock in the corner of the room. Mitch immediately got the hint and stood up, zipping his coat. Bruce took a little longer, but then he too stood and offered a hand to Joe, who took it, albeit a little reluctantly. "Dude, next time, just call first. Dropping bombshells in the middle of the night is not the way to go." he reproved.

Bruce looked ashamed and cast a worried glance in the direction of the bedroom where Halloran was sleeping. "Tell her I am _really_ sorry!" he implored before following Mitch out. Joe followed them out, locking the door behind them and setting the alarm. He decided to do nothing other than move the two boxes into a corner out of the way; the last thing he wanted for her to see them as soon as she got up on the morning. He resisted the urge to rifle through them as it was very late and he was just as tired as anyone else was.

Halloran had sprawled, taking over the entire King sized bed. Joe sighed but rather than his usual routine of crashing in one of the other bedrooms, he twisted his 6 foot tall frame into a pretzel trying to find a semi comfortable position. He had absolutely no intention whatsoever of allowing Halloran to sleep alone, not after her reaction to the letters. He didn't get much sleep that night, but it was a small price to pay.

The next morning, neither of them looked forward to getting out of bed and facing the day. Halloran looked pale and wan, whatever sleep she had gotten had not been restful. Joe ached in all the wrong places. "Wanna hide today?" he asked her softly, gently. His normal light tone full of tease was absent. She shook her head.

"No, I have some pretty important meetings today that cannot be rescheduled." Halloran refused to acknowledge the elephant in the (living) room and pointedly ignored any attempt by her fiance to engage in conversation about what had happened the night before. She went about her morning ritual as if nothing untoward had happened the night before and after a half dozen attempts to draw her out, Joe gave up.

It continued for a week. The boxes were studiously ignored and when Joe finally got fed up with them taking up space, he threw them into the garage. She never said a word. Every time he tried to get her to open up about it, she shut him down. Even innocent sounding questions about her brother were met with icy silence, or worse, a flood of tears. Joe was at his wit's end when he stormed into the into the hospital room where his brother had been forced to remain since it was decided he did need skin grafts after all on his right arm. But today he was being released, and Frank had asked Joe to come get him, as Gloria was unable to take time away from her student nurse duties.

"What's your major malfunction?!" Frank inquired mildly, slightly amused at the scowl his brother wore. He was standing up, fully dressed and trying to pack his bag one armed; his right one still being firmly bandaged and in a sling. Joe harrumphed, and semi rudely shoved his brother out of the way, zipping the bag closed fiercely and flung it over his shoulder.

"Don't ask. I don't wanna talk about it." Joe seethed. He stormed out of the room without waiting to see if Frank was following. In fact, he kept right on going and paced the parking lot, growing more and more agitated. And he positively glared daggers when Frank _finally_ appeared, Gloria on his free arm. "What took you so long?!" he growled, pretty much ignoring Gloria, who raised an eyebrow at the uncharacteristic hostility.

"I had to sign all the release paperwork, Joe. And then Glo wanted to walk me out." Frank's tone was mildly reproving. Joe visibly sagged. His shoulders slumped and he cast an apologetic glance in Gloria's direction.

"Sorry, Guys. Been a rough week is all." he murmured as he opened the door for his brother to slide in the passenger seat. Frank took his time saying goodbye to Gloria. Without words. Ordinarily, Joe would have been making gagging noises, or snide comments or generally been rude and obnoxious, but he only sat in the driver's seat, shoulders slumped and head down. That's when Frank realized something was really upsetting his brother. He reluctantly broke off his 'goodbye' and smiled at his girlfriend apologetically.

"Will I see you later?" he asked, almost shyly.

"I get off at 6 but I have a study session scheduled with some of the gang. I'll try and stop by afterward." she promised. Not only did she know where Frank's apartment was, she had helped Laura tidy up and stock the fridge with fresh food for his arrival back after discharge. Frank smiled at her and leaned in for one last goodbye. Gloria's own smile was just a teeny bit giddy when they broke free. She leaned down and waved good bye to Joe through the open car door. She got a halfhearted wave in return. Still smiling, she turned and rushed back into the hospital as Frank slid into the car, reaching awkwardly over his body to shut the door.

"Okay, out with it, Little Brother. What's bugging you?" Frank decided to go right into Big Brother Mode.

"Said I don't wanna talk about it." Joe grumbled peevishly.

"Uh huh." Frank agreed. "So what's bugging you?" he asked again mildly. He got a dirty look. He just continued to look steadily at his sibling until Joe sighed and switched the ignition on.

"Just relationship crap is all." Joe mumbled.

"Are you two having problems?!" Frank was quite honestly flabbergasted at the thought.

"Yes. No. Hell I am not sure!" the blond brother exploded, frustration radiating off of him in waves.

"Head to the Bay." was all Frank said.

"Thought you couldn't wait to get home?" Joe looked at his brother sideways. "Something about eating real food and sleeping in a bed that you didn't have to lay sideways on to fit?" a trace of his normal humor seeped through.

"The sound of the waves help." he quoted, repeating the very same words spoken to him once before.

Joe responded by gaping at his dark haired sibling and then ruefully chuckling softly and pulling over to the lane that would lead to the correct exit. "Me and my big mouth." he sighed dramatically. Neither man spoke again until Joe had pulled into the not-quite-a-parking lot and turned the ignition off. They sat there, still in silence, for a long while. Frank patiently, Joe less so. Finally, it got to be too much and Joe burst out of the car, stalking around the front to the passenger side. He yanked the door open as he had noticed the difficulties his brother was having trying to get out.

In typical Joe Hardy fashion, though, he was restless, pacing along the giant rock parallel to the cliff's edge. He paid scant attention to his brother as he muttered darkly under his breath, occasionally waving an arm at some unseen foe. Frank watched him, amused and concerned at the same time. If anyone had the perfect relationship, excepting their parents, it was Joe and Halloran. He hoped it was just pre wedding jitters and not something more serious.

"The suspense is killing me, Joe. Do not make me drag it out of you." he threatened. "Did you two have a fight about something?"

"That's the problem, Frank, I wish we _had_ fought!" Joe's wailed. "At least then I could apologize and make it up to her. But she's shutting me out completely!" His eyes were anguished. "She _won_'_t_ let me help!"

"You've lost me, Bro. Start at the very beginning." he suggested in a lilting voice that threatened to become a show tune. He had leaned against the rock; now he slid down it and fell to a seated position in the shadow of it. Joe threw himself down next to his brother and sighed loudly in frustration.

"Last week, in the middle of the night practically, Bruce came storming in with these 2 boxes. He got roped into going through Melody's stuff. Making a long story short, the boxes turned out to have a bunch of love letters. Between Melody and Mark."

"Mark?" Frank was confused, the name was vaguely familiar but he was unsure as to the context.

"Mark of the Impala. Hall's brother. The one who died." Joe reminded him.

"Oh." Suddenly Frank sat straight up in shock. "_**Oh**_!" he turned amazed eyes to his brother. "And she didn't know?"

"I have no idea. She won't discuss it _at all_. Bruce showed her the last one, written just before he was killed. She completely fell apart. Hysterics, hyperventilating, the whole nine yards. I had to sedate her, Frank!" Joe's voice was anguished. "But the next morning, it was like she completely blocked it from her memory. She wouldn't even admit that the boxes were in the living room!" he threw up his hands in despair. "I can't even mention either of their names. She either ignores me completely, or breaks down in tears again and locks herself in the bedroom. I am at my wit's end!" Frank's heart ached, seeing the despair in his brother's eyes.

"Maybe you shouldn't be trying to do anything at all." He suggested.

"How can you say that?" Joe was aghast at the seeming callousness. "She's going to be my _wife_ Frank, I can't stand seeing her suffer like this!"

"Calm down, Bro, that's not what I mean." Frank hastily held up his free hand in a warding gesture. "What I should have said was, maybe you need to be asking the professionals for advice, instead of trying to fix it yourself." He cocked a head slyly. "Remember what happened last time you tried to psychoanalyze somebody?!"

Joe stared, then blushed. "Didn't turn out so great, huh?" he admitted ruefully.

"We made it through okay, but we needed help to get there." Frank conceded. "Nothing wrong with getting help."

"Guess you have a point."

"That's why you keep me around." Frank smirked. "To smack you upside the head when you need it." he pushed himself to a standing position, using the rock to brace himself even as he waved off Joe's immediate offer of assistance. Joe put his arm around his brother's shoulder and they walked back to the Impala. The drive to Frank's apartment was delayed by a side trip to the office, as he wanted to pick up some papers, drop others off and generally make sure the entire place hadn't been destroyed by Hurricane Joseph. He glared at the obnoxious amount of empty donut boxes, tut-tutted at the recycle bin full of soda cans and just sighed in resignation at the pile of crumpled papers that littered the area immediately around the waste basket. He mentally cringed as he headed towards his office, dreading the worst.

Nothing prepared him for what awaited him, though. His office was spotless. It was as if he had had only been away for the weekend as opposed to nearly three weeks. The mail was neatly piled on one side of his desk, phone memos in another neat pile. A third pile of papers awaiting his signature completed the trifecta. "Did you do _any_ work at all?!" He groused. "Or dare I look in _your _ office?!"

Joe pretended to be offended. "Bills are paid, checks ready to be endorsed and deposited. Three new possible cases for your approval, with a fourth I think we should politely decline. Oh, and Sam has until Monday off." He swept into the room and plopped down in one of the chairs normally reserved for clients. "And my office is just fine, thankyewverymuch." he waved a hand dismissively in the general direction of his office. Frank took the challenge and headed that way. Joe just smugly sat back and waited.

Frank had the grace to look properly abashed when he returned. "I gotta say, I am impressed, Little Brother." He sat down behind his desk, gingerly removed his arm from the sling and began endorsing checks. "If you don't have anywhere important to be, d'you mind if I take care of this now? That way you can head to the bank tomorrow first thing."

"No need to. I signed us up for online deposits. Just scan the checks, then mail 'em in." Joe looked pleased with himself. "This way I never have to enter that death trap again!" he still held out a little fear of the bank, despite the wealth it brought him in the form of the petite black haired woman who stole his soul.

"Wuss." Frank scoffed fondly as he laboriously scrawled his way through the pile. While he did that, he interrogated Joe about the new cases, and was especially interested in finding out why Joe thought they should decline the one.

"Too many stakeouts required, and not enough bodies to do 'em. You are on desk duty for at least another month, right? And no offense to Sam, but he's getting old and can't do all the leg work as well as he used to." Joe paused, looking thoughtful. "In fact, we need to think about hiring some new blood."

"I dunno, Kiddo. Bringing in new talent?" Frank was hesitant.

"What you afraid some young pup is gonna show you up , Big Brother?!" Joe laughed, his earlier melancholy firmly shut away for the moment. "You just have to choose wisely, is all. Get some star struck kid who belongs to the Hardy Boy fan club!"

Frank decided to play along. "Or maybe a cute nubile young thing who swoons every time you walk in the room and always has the coffee ready?" he teased.

"**I** am almost a happily married man." Joe sniffed mock haughtily. "No more looking for moi." he turned to fix a steely glare on his brother. "And for that matter, you can't either! Or else I'll tell Gloria on you!" he crossed his arms with a self satisfied smirk.

"Right. So the new secretary has to be someone about Aunt Gertrude's age." Frank continued with the game.

"Absolutely. And wrinkly. Lots of wrinkles. Maybe a mole on her cheek, too. Just to be safe." Joe agreed.

"And the new Trainee has to idolize us and pointedly ignore your faults."

"Of course. And fawn all over, begging to do all the boring scut work like stake outs and tailing cheating husbands" Joe did a double take. "Hey wait a minute. Waddya mean _my_ faults?! You are no Perry Mason, mister."

Frank chuckled, although it was covered by a grimace as his arm protested the abuse it was being subjected to. "We'll discuss it, with Dad. Might not be a bad idea." he conceded.

"How much longer you plan on being?" Joe asked then, indicating the game was at an end for now.

"Gimme maybe twenty minutes?" he responded. "Why?"

"Think I'll make a phone call, is all. I'll be in my office." Joe smoothly stood up and left his brother to his work. Frank shook his head then bent over the slowly diminishing pile of papers that required his signature. He got about half way through when his arm decided it was _done_. Slowly, painfully, he flexed it, wincing as the new skin tugged and felt too tight over the muscle. Sighing deeply, he maneuvered it back into the sling, contemplating scamming Gloria into doing some extra credit worthy therapy on his arm later that evening. He stood up and left his office. Joe's door was not quite closed completely, and the unmistakable noise of the local Hard rock radio station was blaring through the laptop's speakers. He chuckled as he watched his younger brother air drum to the beat of the music, eyes closed as he sang along. He had to admit, his brother could actually sing semi decently.

"If you ever decide to quit the family Biz, Bro, you can fall back on your mad singing skills." he commented. The unexpected interruption caused Joe to jump half out of his chair in surprise, but he managed to not make a complete idiot of himself. He grinned ruefully as he closed out the website and shut down the computer. "Get that call made?"

"Yeap. Got some good advice, too." Joe responded. "Think I'll put it to good use later. You ready to get on home?" He stood up, and followed Frank into the outer room.

"Why, got a hot date?!" Frank teased. "And here I thought you loved me!"

"I love Halloran more, Pal." Joe was serious. "Sorry, Bro, you've been replaced." the smile this time was faintly regretful. "If you need me, I'll be there. Otherwise, I'm with her." He shrugged. " 'Sides, you've got Gloria now."

"True. Mom likes her, so I guess she can stick around."

"Not Mom you have to worry about. Mom loves everybody. It's _Dad_ you need to convince she's good enough for you. As the eldest it is your responsibility to produce many sons to carry on the Family Name." Joe looked so serious that Frank barely held the laugh in until they both burst out in unison.

"You think you're off the hook?!" Frank sputtered between guffaws.

"I plan on only having girls. Every one of them as cute as me and who will wrap Grandpa Fenton around their little fingers. He doesn't stand a chance," Joe smirked as he opened the passenger side of the Impala, closing behind Frank once he got settled. After a brief discussion about dinner, Joe drove Frank home via Prito's, where Frank ordered Tony's mushroom ravioli( extra sauce) and an order of garlic bread to go. He helped Frank haul his bag from the hospital as well as dinner upstairs, pausing only long enough to make sure Frank could handle everything one armed. "What time do you want your taxi service to arrive in the morning? As long as it's after 9, that is..." Frank was under orders to not drive until the sling came off in another 2 weeks.

"Just call me when you are on your way." Frank said. He knew he'd be able to take a leisurely shower, and linger over breakfast before he had to worry about Joe showing any sign of arriving. Privately, he figured he'd have until ten minimum.

Joe laughed ruefully, knowing full well what his brother was thinking. "Later, Bro!" he skipped down the stairs and out into the warm summer night. He pulled out into the street, but instead of turning left towards home, he turned right towards Home. The house on the corner of Elm and High. He startled his mother when he breezed into the kitchen with an airy 'hello' and kiss on her flour smudged cheek. She was making pie. "Mmm Strawberry rhubarb. Yummy!" he angled for an offer to stay for dessert.

"Never you mind, young man!" she scolded with a smile. "These are for the Youth Center's bake sale!" she slapped his hand away as he tried to sneak a hulled strawberry. "What brings you here anyway?"

"Came to see if something I left in the basement is still here." Joe sat down at the kitchen table and took the small knife out of her hand and began slicing strawberries.

"Oh?" Fenton had come in, having heard his son's voice. "What might that be?"

"Just a box of stuff. I am hoping it will help me get through to Halloran."

"What do you mean, Dear?" Laura asked, with a tiny frown. Joe found himself explaining to his parents what had been going on over the past week, and then went on to mention Frank's advice, which he had taken; hence his arrival at his boyhood residence.

"I hope it helps. I hate seeing her so shut off emotionally." He shuddered lightly, and Laura leaned in to lay an arm across her son's shoulders. "Not a very nice place to be. I oughta know." He smiled wanly up at his mother before looking across the table at his father and nodding in acknowledgement of the emotion he saw in Fenton's eyes. "Anywho" he deliberately broke the mood and stood up. "It's getting late so I should get downstairs and see if I can find it."

It took him about five minutes to find the box in question, but another 20 to get to it, as in the intervening years, other boxes had been piled in front. He lugged it upstairs, marveling at the lightness of it. It had seemed so heavy ten years earlier. He took only a minute longer to say goodnight to his parents and was quickly on his way way home.

Just as he had suspected, Halloran was acting like nothing was wrong, like her best friend wasn't recently buried. She had made pot roast, and was just making the gravy when he came in and kissed her on the cheek. "Good. You are just in time to mash the potatoes." she smiled at him. No one other than Joe would have seen the pain in her eyes, quickly masked. He sighed silently, determined more than ever that he would get her to open up before the end of the night.

He waited until after dinner to spring his trap though. He even did the dishes like normal. But afterward, when she was in the living room watching TV, he sauntered in with the box. She looked at him, but said nothing, although her eyes may have narrowed just a tad.

"I want to show you something, Honey." Joe said as he ripped off the packing tape and pried back the flaps. Even though he knew exactly what was in this box, and it had been years since he last held the contents, he couldn't prevent the single tear from rolling down his cheek.

He pulled out a stack of envelopes, tied together with a bright emerald green ribbon that nearly matched the color of Halloran's eyes. "This was her favorite color," he said softly as he untied the silk and laid it across Halloran's knee. "It's how I knew you were the one, you know. When I saw you the first time in the bank. The color of your eyes." He reached out a gentle hand and tenderly stroked her cheek, ignoring the tears in his eyes.

"There aren't many, of course, we lived in the same town, went to the same school, hung out with the same crowd. Most of these are from the few summers we spent in different locations; I was never the best letter writer. And lord knows I could never be accused of being romantic. I'd more likely write about the awesome fish I caught than how much her eyes sparkled in the moonlight. But apparently that didn't matter. Iola kept every single one of 'em. Even the ones I don't remember writing. The first time I went through them I couldn't believe I was such a dork, the things I'd written?!" he laughed then, through the tears.

"And here's the thing, Babe. I couldn't bear to read them right away. It was years before I gathered the courage. I had just gotten back from Japan, and I was feeling really pressured from all sides. Frank was bugging me, Dad was trying too hard, I just had to get away. So I hid in the basement one day, and I read them. All my dreams and hopes, poured out to her. All those plans that we had that never came to fruition." He sighed then, sniffling a little. "Mrs Morton brought the box over a few months after the funeral. Said she wanted me to have them. But I couldn't, not then. It was way too soon." He reached into the box and pulled out a molten lump of metal. "I still carried these with me everywhere. A reminder. But they never let me move forward. I got stuck, hung up on what never was. What could never be. I ran away, but it did no good whatsoever."

"But when I got back, I was able to shove the feelings down just enough that I could read the letters, and weep, but not be paralyzed any more. And I found out a few things. Things about Iola that I never knew. And I was glad to have done so. Even if they broke my heart all over again."

All throughout his commentary, Halloran never said a word. She had stiffened, and once or twice looked as if she was about to bolt, but she stayed put.

"It took me a long time to gather enough courage to read them, Babe. But I never pretended they didn't exist," he chided her gently. "I would never, ever disrespect her memory like that."

"I may be the only person who truly understands what this has done to you. And I am not going to tell you to suck it up and just read the damn letters. That'd be so hypocritical it isn't funny. "I'm not even going to tell you they have to be read at all." He reached in the box yet again and pulled out a well worn diary. "I've never even opened this." He gently replaced it back in the box. "But what I am going to tell you is you can't ignore the fact that they exist at all. You have the rare opportunity here to learn something incredible about not only your best friend, but your brother." He chucked a finger under her chin, and saw that she now had tears brimming too. "It might be too soon, and I respect that. But don't lock the door and throw away the key." He leaned in and gently kissed her forehead. "I'm going to bed. Frank is bound to play slavedriver all day tomorrow, and since I have to be his chauffeur there is no way I can escape. So I need my beauty rest." He stood up and stepped around the box and up stairs.

He was already in bed and just drifting off when Halloran came upstairs. She silently brushed her teeth and changed into her usual cotton tee and baggy shorts before slipping under the covers and sliding next to him. He reflexively shifted to pull her closer and she turned, clinging to him fiercely. "You're right" she whispered.

"Of course I am right. I'm always right. It's why you love me." his voice was husky with sleep, and maybe something more.

"But I can't. Not yet.." she trailed off, sobbing. He held her close, letting her cry herself out, although he was grateful this was far less crippling than the other night.

"When you are ready, I'll be there. Promise." He assured her. And they drifted off to sleep, in each other's arms.

**A/n: **_I am not sure I will go into any more detail about the contents of the letters than this. Like I said this was harder to write than I initially expected to be, hence the delay in posting. But I think I am close to wrapping the entire story up shortly. _


	18. Chapter 18

**A/n:** _So here we are at the end. I thought about dragging it out a few more chapters, but eventually decided it wasn't necessary and I could wrap things up pretty neatly as is. Hope you enjoyed the ride..._**  
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**Chapter Eighteen**

In the weeks that followed, the Boys found themselves at several crossroads. Fenton enthusiastically embraced the idea of hiring fresh faces and threw himself into the task with glee. Telling them to leave everything to him, he took control over all aspects of hiring a new intern (and secretary) . Before long, he was interviewing two or three candidates a day, many referred to him by Chief Con Riley or nearby NYC's Chief of Police. He eventually narrowed it down to three solid prospects, and had group interviews with Frank and Joe sitting in as well. Those three got narrowed down to two, mainly because Joe thought the third was a little too gung ho("I'm the reckless one, and I don't want any competition!" he half joked). Those two were sent out on some milk runs with Sam and one overnight stakeout with Joe. The older of the two, a man by the name of Jason was unable to handle the stakeout, and complained the entire time about how dull and boring it was. He was not too happy with the comment that most PI work was exactly that.. dull and boring. Joe was quick to point out that most police work was the same, and Jason responded by saying that's why he wanted out of police work. So Joe suggested he seek out military service, he was still young enough and the Marines or Army was probably more to his liking.

The second stakeout went a lot better than the first. At first Joe was extremely skeptical; with one notable exception, he had found that female Private Investigators tended to fall into two distinct categories. The first was the 'ball buster', the ones with chips on their shoulders and an overbearing need to prove themselves to be as hard nosed as any male in the biz. The other extreme was the 'drama queen', the type who used their sexuality to seduce everything with three legs but was the first one to squeal in fear when things got tough. Joanna was neither. She was a little older than Frank, and a veteran of the Homicide division in one of NY's larger precincts. But her husband had gotten a new job in Bayport and she was looking to relocate. Con Riley had sent her their way as he was unable to offer her a job at the moment. Joe liked her immediately, she had a lovely dry sense of humor and was not shy about returning any sarcasm sent her way. Frank was impressed with her technical skills; she could pick a lock in under 45 seconds. Fenton knew her by reputation and was eager to have her aboard. Sam joked that it would be nice to have intelligent conversations during stakeouts for a change. He got a dirty look from Joe at that comment.

The secretary was easy, even factoring in Frank's half serious requirement that she be at least as old as Aunt Gertrude and twice as ugly. Martha Collins was about Fenton's age and had over 30 years' experience working in the Records Department of City Hall. Mandatory retirement age meant she had to leave, but she was not ready to "pull up a rocker and wither away just yet" as she pertly put it. Privately Joe was worried that she lacked the necessary 'ugly mole' but he was soon won over by her homemade apple turnovers. Years of experience taught her well how to screen visitors and which ones would respond better to Frank or Joe's style. She settled in quickly and suddenly the Boys had a lot more free time to work on cases, as she took over typing up the reports by her third day.

Halloran continued to avoid the boxes, although she did ask Joe to bring them in from the garage and had him store them in a closet in the spare bedroom. She did, however, throw herself into the wedding planning with renewed fervor. She and Gloria started hanging out together a lot, considering the brothers were often found together in and out of the office. She shyly asked Gloria to stand up for her a couple of months before the big day, and after consulting privately with Frank, who asked Joe for his input, Gloria accepted.

Frank's recovery didn't go quite as fast or as well as he had hoped. About a month after the graft, he got an infection and the skin began to die. This time Joe supplied the skin, and there were no more issues, although when all was said and done, Frank had to concede he lost a little bit of mobility. He was no longer the reigning marksman of the company. That honor went to Joanna, although Joe was right behind her and many impromptu friendly competitions ended in draws. But being Frank Hardy, he simply worked harder until he accomplished his goal.

Joe was very happy to turn the day to day reins back over to his brother, and even happier to turn the boring paperwork over to Martha. He was always more at home in the field anyway, and with someone to share the load he was able to devote more time to his pet project, that of finding the man behind Danny Frisk's kidnapping. He took many 'business trips' to Washington DC and the FBI headquarters, where he and Special Agent Reeves had commandeered an entire conference room and a few assorted peons to devote to their (not quite an) obsession.

Fenton, once he had finished hiring Joanna and Martha, was told in no uncertain terms he owed his wife a nice vacation, so he packed their bags and headed to Hawai'i, a place Laura had fallen in love with a few years before.

Gloria spent every moment she wasn't in class, at the Hospital or studying with Frank. She discovered that Pediatric Oncology was a field that was sorely in need of caring and compassionate caregivers; few people with hearts could face a dying child and the desperate parents with smiles every day. She was so good with patient and parent that she was offered a permanent, full time job just as soon as she passed her NCLEX and became board certified. She was seriously considering it; although she loved Calverton, it had no hospital, let alone an Oncology department. And there was that tall, dark and oh, so handsome guy who loved snickerdoodles to consider as well.

Bruce groveled so much it became embarrassing for everyone. He sent a huge bouquet of Calla Lilies to Halloran at home and a potted ivy for her office at work. It wasn't until she called him up and forgave him in exact terms did he let himself off the hook.

Special Agent Connely called one day to inform them that Maines was dead, shot as he tried to cross state lines. The other two sang like canaries and not only gave up details on Maines, but a half dozen other mid to high level dealers over three states. Connely was positively chortling with glee as he told the Hardy Brothers that he was bound to get a commendation or three and he couldn't have done it without them.

All in all, Frank and Joe were at a good point in their lives, professionally and personally. One eventing, they were contentedly relaxing on the back deck at Joe's, drinking beer and enjoying the slight breeze of the late summer evening. "Life, is Good!" Joe sighed as he clinked his bottle to his brother's.

"You got that right, Bro." Frank agreed before taking a swig. "Which means we are due for some Karmic payback any minute now."

"Quit being such a damn pessimist, would ya?!" Joe reproved. "Or tempting Fate!"

"I'm just saying, Joe. Seems like every time our lives start to settle down into a nice, normal pace, the Powers that Be decide to toss us a live grenade. Without the pin."

"Okay, what's got you spooked?" Joe queried. "You aren't normally this gloom and doomy."

"Truthfully?" he asked. "I am a little scared about things."

"What things? Joe scoffed. "You have a great reputation, too much business, a great girl and, of course, the bestest Little Brother in the whole wide world." Joe smirked. "What is there to be worried about?!"

"That's just it. Everything is going so great I am waiting for the other shoe to drop. It always does."

"Okay, quit that right now." Joe scolded. "For once in your life, quit fussing about worse case scenarios and just enjoy the moment."

"Easier said than done." Frank replied almost morosely. "You know me, it's part if my psyche. I worry. It's what I do."

"And sometimes that's a good thing." Joe conceded, "Just not all the time. I'm not saying you need to all 'Hakuna Matata' or anything, but can't you at least stop expecting the fecal matter to hit the air cooling unit every other minute?!"

Frank couldn't help it, he burst into incredulous laughter at Joe's roundabout way of speaking. "Okay, okay, I get the point. Self Fulfilling Prophecies and all that, right?"

"Exactly. If it happens, we'll deal with it. _**If**_ it happens. No going out and looking for it."

"No going out and looking for what?" Halloran and Gloria had just returned from their shopping and overheard the last bit of the conversation. Halloran easily slipped into Joe's waiting arms and returned his welcome with enthusiasm, while Gloria opted to perch on the arm of the chair Frank was sitting on and lean in for her own kiss.

"Trouble, Dear." Joe smiled into her emerald green eyes. "We have vowed to let it come to us instead of seeking it out with alacrity."

"Ooh, such big words." Gloria teased. "Never knew you had it in you, Joe!"

"All part of my masterful disguise, Glo." he retorted with a laugh. "Fool 'em all into thinking I am just a Blond Bimbo so they underestimate me."

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, Kiddo." Frank chuckled. Joe responded by sticking his tongue out and making raspberry noises. The rest of the evening was spent with Joe firmly squashing any attempt by Frank to be pessimistic in any way, shape or form, with the girls ganging up on him as well. By the time the party broke up, Frank had allowed himself the luxury of not dwelling on the what ifs and began enjoying the moment for what it was...

There was always tomorrow to start worrying again, right?

**A/n: **_Like others, I will be writing another at some point but not right away. I hope to not make you wait until August, but since I have several ideas competing for attention at the moment, I am not sure when I can indulge myself while doing everything justice. I also have not decided how, if at all, I will be doing the wedding. I do have 2 broad plots for the next couple 'serious' stories and one extremely broad plot for my next 'humorous' story. _


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